•MBM 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA 


BY 

AMELIA  E.  BARR 

AUTHOR  OF  "JAN  VEDDER'S  WIFE,"  "A  DAUGHTER  or  FIFE," 

"THE  BOW  OF  ORANGE  RIBBON."  "  THE  SQUIRE 

OF  SANDAL  SIDE,  '  ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK : 
DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1887. 

BY 
DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY. 


PS 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THIS  SPRING  OF  LOVE, i 

CHAPTER  II. 
PAUL  THORJEN'S  TEMPTATION,  .  .  17 

CHAPTER  III. 
A  WILLFUL  WOMAN, 33 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  MINISTER  SPEAKS,  ....  52 

CHAPTER  V. 
AT  SORROW'S  GATES,  68 

CHAPTER  VI. 
FOLDED  CLOSE  THE  SHADOWS  ARE,  .  .  85 

CHAPTER  VII. 
CHRISTINA  TAKES  HER  OWN  WAY,  .  .  104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
LOVE'S  PATIENCE,  ......  122 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE,  .  .  .  .141 


* 


*54 
* 


lv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER  X. 
WHO  SHALL  HAVE  THE  CHILD,     ...       161 

CHAPTER  XI. 
WELL  WITH  THE  CHILD 181 

CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  MINISTER'S  WIFE  SPEAKS,     ...        197 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
FROM  THE  FURNACE,  FINE  GOLD,     .       .       .    213 


PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THIS   SPRING  OF  LOVE. 

Lonely,  dark  islands,  in  pale  sea-water,  where,  dimly  peering, 
Passed  the  white-sailed  ships,  scornfully,  silently,  wheeling  and 

vering, 
Swift  out  of  sight  again  ;  while  the  wind  searches  what  it  finds 

never 

O'er  the  sand-reaches  ;  bays,  billows,  blown  beaches,  homeless 
forever ! 

Love's  lips  are  always  young  ; 
Love's  lore  is  very  old  ; 
If  you  have  ever  loved,  the  key  you  hold 

To  all  that  hath  of  Love  been  said  or  sung. 

'"PHERE  are  forlorn  and  cheerless  seas  to  the 
J[  north  of  the  Pentland  Firth,  but  beyond 
their  belts  of  foam,  and  beyond  the  ocean  pyra 
mids  of  the  Orcades,  you  may  catch  in  clear 
weather,  the  grey  headlands  of  the  lonely  Shet 
land  Isles. 

They  are  inhabited  by  no  servile   or  savage 
race ;  for  they  are  the  children  of  those  Norse- 


PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

men  who  left  their  name  and  fame  in  France, 
Italy  and  Spain,  and  who  a  century  later  took 
service  at  Byzantium.  Moslems  in  Asia  and 
Sclavonians  on  the  Black  Sea  knew  the  temper 
of  their  steel :  and  to  this  day  the  lions  of  the 
Acropolis  at  Athens  are  scored  with  the  runes 
which  tell  of  their  triumphs. 

It  was  in  the  Orkneys  and   Shetlands  they 
took  the  deepest  root— first  helping  the  Pict 
and  then  the  Scot,  and  filling  all  the  northern 
isles  with    the  stirring  stories  of  their  deeds. 
The  step  between  pagan  sea-kings  and  Christian 
whalers  and  fishermen    is   a   long  one,  and    it 
required  centuries  to  take— even  yet   the  old 
life  leavens  the  new  and  the  better  one.     Walk 
through  a  Shetland  town,  and  it  will  be  readily 
seen  that  the  names  above  the  doors,  are  those  of 
the  Icelandic  Sagas,  while  the  ordinary-spoken 
English  has  many  traces  of  their  peculiar  forms. 
The   men   preserve   much   of  their   ancient 
character ;  they  are  silent,  indomitable,  adven 
turous  and  deeply  pious,  inclined  to  be  indolent 
but  ready  at  any  moment  for  an  enterprise  full 
of   danger   or  promising   great    returns.     The 
women   are    remarkably   handsome,   tall    and 
stately,  with  cool,  calm,  blue  eyes,  and  a  great 


THIS  SPRING  OF  LOl*E.  3 

abundance  of  hair,  yellow  as  the  dawn.  In  the 
old  pagan  days  they  ruled  all  things  with  a 
high  hand,  but  three  centuries  of  austere  and 
mystical  Calvinism  has  subdued  to  a  more 
womanly  temper  their  lofty  spirits.  Yet  who  can 
be  absolutely  delivered  from  their  ancestors? 
Not  only  do  the  physical  peculiarities  of  the 
tenth-century  viking  linger  in  the  Shetlanders, 
but  the  superstitions  of  Thor,  marble  the 
natures,  permeated  through  and  through  with 
the  sternest  and  most  distinctive  of  Christian 
creeds. 

Such  a  man  was  Paul  Thorsen.  He  had  been 
on  Arctic  seas  when  the  great  ice  mountains 
reeled  around  him,  and  he  had  sung  hymns 
amid  the  crashing  uproar,  because  he  "  knew 
right  well  that  God  was  with  him  !  "  And  yet, 
for  Christina  Bork's  love  he  could  go  at  mid 
night  to  the  kirk  at  Weesdale  with  a  charm,  and 

offer  a  vow  of  alms  "  if  all  went  as  he  desired  it." 

• 

Coming  home,  he  met  his  mate,  Magnus 
Yool.  Magnus  had  on  his  fishing-suit  of  tanned 
sheepskins,  and  he  carried  many  a  fathom  of 
line  over  his  shoulders.  On  the  dusky  moor  he 
looked  like  some  giant  of  an  earlier  world. 

"Where  hast  thou  been,  Paul?"  he  asked. 


4  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  Well  then,  I  have  been  to  make  a  vow. 

"  And  in  the  meantime  the  boat  waits." 

"  I  have   vowed   ten  silver    pieces   to   John 
Sabiston's  orphans." 

"That  is  a  good  deal." 

"As  you  take  it." 

"  For  what  then  ?  " 

"For  the  good-will  of  Christina  Bork." 

"As  everyone  knows,  Christina's  good-will 
would  be  dear  at  a  groat." 

"What  is  it  you  mean,  Magnus?" 

"  Well,  it  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  this : 
I  like  not  Christina.  She  is  vain.  She  is  self- 
willed.  She  is  unkind  to  her  mother.  And 
know  this,  Paul— the  bad  daughter  will  make 
the  bad  wife." 

"  If  thou  had  ever  been  in  love,  Magnus " 

"  I  have  loved  once— yes !  But  thou  wilt  take 
thy  own  way  in  this  matter,  that  is  well  known, 
Paul." 

"I  have  seen  that  Christina  hath  faults,  but 
when  a  girl  is  loved  in  spite  of  her  faults,  what 
then?" 

"Well,  then  one  marries!"  and  Magnus 
shrugged  his  big  shoulders  as  over  an  inevita 
ble  misfortune. 


THIS  SPRING  OF  LOVE.  5 

"  But  here  are  other  things  than  marrying  to 
think  about,  Paul.  It  is  time  the  lines  were  out, 
and  the  boats  are  waiting  for  thee  and  forme." 
And  even  as  he  spoke  the  harsh,  plaintive  cries 
of  the  boatmen  were  heard  amid  the  bellowing 
of  the  waves  that  broke  among  the  rocks  on 
the  beach. 

Though  it  was  May,  the  night  was  dark,  with 
a  wild  carry  overhead  out  of  the  north-west,  and 
a  black  sea  tumbling  wild  and  high  about  the 
boats.  Nothing  could  be  distinctly  seen,  only 
a  vague  trouble  and  turmoil,  as  if  a  battle  was 
going  on  in  the  dark.  But  these  fishers  were 
used  to  the  sea  in  all  her  moods  and  they 
looked  out  over  the  tossing  waters,  spreading 
away  into  endless  dark  without  a  fear. 

"  The  Lord  open  the  mouth  of  the  grey  fish 
and  hold  His  hand  about  the  boat !  "  said  Mag 
nus,  reverently,  as  he  lifted  the  anchor ;  and 
Paul  turned,  with  a  prayer  on  his  lips,  and 
looked  for  a  moment  toward  the  home  of  his 
beloved. 

Christina  was  snugly  tucked  between  feathers 
and  eider-down  and  she  thought  not  of  her 
lover  upon  the  black,  bleak  sea.  She  was  a 
beautiful  girl,  with  a  nature  in  which  bitter  and 


6  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

sweet  were  perversely  mingled — subtle,  seduc 
tive  charms  of  manners  were  hers,  and  also  a 
native  capacity  for  the  treachery  which  is  in  the 
blood  and  bone  of  wild  animals  accustomed  to 
compass  their  desires  by  craftiness  and  stealth. 
All  her  virtues  were  in  a  rudimentary  state  ;  a 
supreme  selfishness  dominated  her — and  when 
selfishness  is  the  subsoil  of  character,  any  evil 
seed  dropped  into  it,  either  by  the  wayside  or 
the  fireside,  is  sure  to  grow. 

She  was  the  youngest  of  a  large  family  and 
the  only  child  left  to  cheer  her  mother's  old 
age  :  for  one  night  her  father  and  brothers  had 
gone  to  the  fishing  and  had  frozen  to  death  in 
the  open  boat.  The  icy  wind  had  slain  those 
whom  the  sea  had  spared,  and  when  the  boat 
drifted  in  with  the  morningtide  it  was  manned, 
like  a  spectre  bark,  only  with  the  dead.  But 
the  terrible  tragedy  made  no  lasting  impression 
upon  Christina  ;  and  home  circumstances,  full 
of  gracious  opportunities  for  a  generous  soul, 
suggested  nothing  to  her  but  a  more  resolute 
protection  of  her  own  comfort  and  her  own  in 
terests. 

"  But  they  are  queer  folk  that  have  no  faults," 
said  her  mother  ;  "  and  very  soon  Christina  will 


THIS  SPRING  Of  LOVE.  f 

be  a  wife,  with  her  own  love  and  her  own  nome, 
and  the  good  will  put  down  the  bad." 

So  Helga  Bork,  with  a  wistful  hopefulness, 
looked  always  for  what  was  good  in  her  child's 
character,  hoping  against  hope  with  that  con 
stant  anguish  of  patience  which  lifts  a  mother's 
love  so  near  to  the  divine  mercy,  which 
"  endureth  forever."  She  was  a  woman  nearly 
sixty  years  old,  with  a  grey  head  and  a  face 
full  of  that  pitifulness  and  sweetness  that  only 
sorrow  and  hard  experience  of  sorrow  can  give. 

On  the  morning  after  Paul  Thorsen  had  made 
his  vow,  she  was  standing  at  the  table  cleaning 
some  fish  and  thinking  lovingly  and  trustfully 
of  her  child,  when  Christina  entered  the  room, 
rosy  and  smiling  from  ^her  long  sleep.  She 
broiled  for  herself  some  slices  of  mutton,  toasted 
her  cake,  made  her  tea,  and  then  sat  down 
before  the  fire  to  eat  and  drink  with  a  deliber 
ate  enjoyment. 

She  made  such  a  very  pretty  picture  that  it 
was  not  hard,  in  its  beauty,  to  forget  the  intense 
selfishness  of  the  solitary  meal  ;  not  hard  to 
forget  that  the  mother  had  been  on  the  pier  for 
two  hours  helping  to  unload  the  boats,  and 
that,  after  her  hard  labor,  she  had  come  home 


PACL  AtfD  CHRISTINA. 

to  find  the  hearth  cold  and  the  breakfast  un 
cooked.  When  the  neglect  first  began  Chris 
tina  had  made  excuses  :  "  She  had  a  headache, 
or  a  cold,  or  she  had  overslept  herself."  Then 
she  became  tired  of,  or  ashamed  of,  her  excuses 
and  sulked  in  their  place. 

The  mother  had  been  mostly  silent.  If 
neither  love  nor  duty  could  make  her  daughter 
care  for  her  comfort  she  would  not  demand  an 
ungracious  service.  And  very  soon  Christina 
quite  persuaded  herself  that  her  mother  had 
gone  so  many  years  to  meet  the  boats  that  she 
liked  to  go  ;  and  from  this  point  it  was  not 
hard  to  arrive  at  another — when  any  unusual 
delay  prevented  the  fire  from  being  bright  and 
the  house-place  clean,  she  felt  it  as  a  personal 
injury  and  annoyance. 

This  morning,  however,  all  was  cheery  and 
comfortable;  and  Christina,  after  her  first  cup 
of  tea,  was  inclined  to  be  very  talkative. 

"  There  is  to  be  a  tea-party  at  Peter  Hay's 
to-night,  mother,  and  I  should  well  like  to  go." 

"But,  for  all  that  I  will  not  consent,  Chris 
tina.  Thou  knowest  that  there  will  be  drink 
ing  and  dancing  the  whole  night  through.  Our 
own  men  are  all  now  busy  at  the  nets ;  the  men 


THIS  SPRING  OF  LOVE.  9 

thou  wilt  meet  at  Hay's  are  like  to  be  smug 
glers  and  strangers.  A  good  girl  will  not  want 
to  dance  with  them.  No,  indeed  !  " 

"  Thou  thinkest  I  am  sixty  years  old.  If  I 
.want  any  pleasure,  it  is  ever,  '  No,  I  will  not 
consent.' " 

"Christina,  there  was  once  a  chicken  shut  up 
from  danger  and  it  complained  that  it  was  not 
allowed  to  feed  openly  on  the  dunghill.  That 
is  the  way  with  thee." 

"  Now  then  I  will  marry  Paul  Thorsen.  He 
loves  me  and  he  will  give  me  my  own  way  ; 
and  I  shall  go  and  come  as  it  pleases  me.  That 
is  what!  will  do." 

"  Then  thou  wilt  marry  sorrow  and  bring 
sorrow  also  to  a  good  man's  heart.  If  thou 
marry  Paul  Thorsen  it  is  my  hope  that  he  will 
hold  thee  with  a  firm  hand." 

"If  he  can  do  that  he  can  do  something 
worth  talking  about.  See,  he  is  coming  here. 
When  he  is  well  dressed  he  is  not  bad  looking, 
and  I  shall  make  him  leave  the  nets  and  lines, 
and  do  as  far  better  men  do.  Then  he  can 
wear  broadcloth  and  a  red  sash  and  he  will 
bring  me  silk  and  lace,  and  gold  ornaments, 
and  fine  tea  and  brandy.  Yes,  indeed  !  I  shall 


10  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

want  for  nothing,  and  of  all  these  things  I  will 
also  give  thee  a  good  share." 

"  Dost  thou  then  think  that  thou  can  make 
a  smuggler  of  Paul  Thorsen?  Paul  is  an  hon 
est  man,  and  the  seed  of  Adam  will  not  make 
him  less  than  an  honest  man." 

"  We  shall  see." 

"Tell  thy  thought  to  him.  Tell  it  to  him 
plain  and  soon.  I  know  well  what  answer  thou 
wilt  get." 

"  I  will  tell  him — at  my  own  time.  He  will 
do  as  I  say.  Good-morning  to  thee,  Paul !  " 

She  rose  as  she  spoke  and  stood  with  out 
stretched  hand  looking  at  him  ;  her  fair  rosy 
face  in  a  flush  of  youth  and  beauty,  and  her 
yellow  hair  floating  round  her  like  sunrise. 

Never  had  she  seemed  to  Paul  so  bewitch 
ing,  and  never  before  had  she  been  so  kind.  He 
had  a  large,  brave  countenance,  honest  and 
kindly,  and  eyes  that  reminded  one  of  the  sea, 
and  his  face  glowed  crimson  with  joy,  as  with 
a  trembling  sense  of  his  coming  happiness,  he 
drank  the  tea  she  made  him. 

The  links  and  meadows  were  green  and  full 
of  flowers,  and  the  skylarks  building  low  among 
them  were  filling  the  air  with  their  rapturous 


THIS  SPRING  OF  LOVE.  II 

songs.  The  sea  was  blue  and  dimpling  with 
incalculable  laughter  in  the  sunshine,  and  the 
voices  of  countless  water-birds  mingled  with 
the  whish-h  of  the  incoming  tide.  Paul  and 
Christina  went  out  together  and  while  they 
walked  under  the  blue  sky,  in  a  world  full  of 
the  salt  and  sparkle  and  breeze  of  the  waves, 
Paul  told  Christina,  with  manly  sincerity  and 
eagerness,  how  dearly  he  loved  her;  and  she 
promised  him  to  be  his  wife. 

Helga  Bork  knew  how  it  was  when  she  saw 
her  daughter  coming  home  with  Paul.  For  a 
moment  she  felt  a  kind  of  pity  for  the  young 
man.  Such  a  true  heart !  Such  a  true  love  ! 
She  wondered  that  one  so  wise  and  prudent  as 
Paul  Thorsen  could  not  see  that  Christina  had 
no  more  heart  than  a  kitten. 

Perhaps  he  did  see  it,  but  she  had  grown 
into  his  life  as  the  sea  and  the  stars  had  grown 
into  it.  He  could  not  bear  to  think  of  existence 
without  her.  And  perhaps  he  also  thought  that 
it  would  be  his  delightful  task  to  awaken 
the  slumbering  soul  of  the  girl.  Very  good 
men  often  deceive  themselves  with  this  idea: 
for  the  sleeping  princess  is  the  dream  of  all 
pure,  true  lovers.  So  Paul  rather  liked  Chris- 


13  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

tina's  coldness  and  indifference  to  every  one. 
To  win  her  affections  with  the  morning  dew 
upon  them — that  was  Paul  Thorsen's  happy 
dream. 

For  it  is  not  women,  but  men,  who  love 
romantically.  Women  like  to  marry  prosperous 
men,  and  wedding  garments  and  housekeep 
ing  prospects  divide  with  love  their  hearts. 
Thus  on  the  previous  night  while  Paul  was 
hastening  across  the  dark  moor  to  make  hi? 
vow  for  her,  Christina  was  sitting  with  her  feel 
upon  the  fender,  trimming  a  new  bonnet,  an</ 
laying  plans  for  the  silk  and  lace  she  intended 
Paul  to  procure  for  her. 

The  marriage  was  to  be  solemnized  at  the 
end  'of  the  summer  fishing  and  Christina  was 
determined  to  have  a  great  wedding  feast. 

"  Paul  hath  promised  me  a  silk  dress,"  she 
said,  "  and  his  mother  will  give  me  a  gold  ring 
arid  the  chain  his  grandfather  bought  in  Hol 
land,  and  the  necklace,  too,  perhaps.  And  we 
shall  have  a  great  procession  to  the  kirk,  and  a 
feast,  and  a  dance  afterwards  !  All  this,  and 
more  too  !  "  she  added  proudly. 

"  And  I  will  give  thee  a  good  store  of  blankets, 
and  of  knit  clothing  that  my  own  hands  have 


13 

made.  And  besides,  thou  shalt  have  the  silver 
chain  and  cross  that  was  brought  hundreds  of 
years  ago  from  the  Southern  Seas  by  thy  fore- 
father  Bor— thou  hast  seen  how  he  lies  in 
stone,  in  Scalloway  Kirk.  Now,  then,  what  has 
Paul  said  to  thee  of  thy  home?" 

"  Paul  hath  a  good  house  and  he  will  buy 
many  new  things  for  it.  He  has  saved  £400 
and  more,  too,  and  he  owns  the  boat  in  which 
he  sails,  and  part  of  the  one  which  Nicol  Sin 
clair  rents.  Oh,  I  shall  make  myself  very  com 
fortable—after  a  little ! " 

"'After  a  little!'  What  dost  thou  mean, 
then  ?  " 

"  When  I  get  the  house  to  myself." 
"  If  thou  would   be  a  happy  wife,  I  counsel 
thee,   meddle   not   in   such   a  matter  as  that. 
There  is  no  man  in  Shetland  loves  his  mother 
better  than  Paul  Thorsen  loves  Margery  Thor- 
sen.  She  was  there  before  f  hee.  Think  of  that !  " 
'  That  may  be,  but  is  not  my  affair;  and  be 
fore  the  winter  she  will  go  to  her  daughter  at 
Voe  Ness.     Nanna  Thorsen  married  well.     It 
is    with    the     daughter    the    mother    should 
stay.     That  is  what  I  think  ;  and  I  shall  soon 
make  Paul  in  the  same  mind.    Thou  wilt  see  !  " 


14  PAUL  AND    CHRISTINA. 

"  Paul's  mother  will  be  well  away  from  thee ! " 
said  Helga,  indignantly.  "And  know  this — it 
is  not  with  thee  that  I  would  live.  I  would  ask 
shelter  with  the  seals  in  the  Varra  caves  first ! 
Yes,  indeed  I  would  ! " 

"  Now  thou  art  angry  for  nothing.  That  is 
ever  thy  way,  mother.  And  why  must  thou 
care  for  Margery  Thorsen?  She  is  no  kin  of 
thine.  It  seems  to  me  thou  can  think  of  every 
one  but  thy  own  daughter." 

"  Well,  then,  thou  thinkest  very  well  for  thy 
self.  In  thy  own  heart  thou  art  the  first  and 
the  last.  Yes,  indeed  !  " 

And  Christina  laughed  and  went  off  to  the 
public  fountain  for  water.  She  carried  the 
small  bucket  upon  her  head  with  a  lofty  and 
nonchalant  grace.  Her  hands  were  occupied 
with  her  fine  knitting,  and  as  the  glancing 
needles  swiftly  glided  to  and  fro,  she  sang,  in 
a  clear,  shrill  voice : 

"  Oh,  my  sailor  comes  over  the  sea 
With  a  golden  ring  and  chain  for  me, 

And  the  King  shall  pay  for  it  all  ! 
He'll  merrily  shake  his  canvas  free, 
He'll  give  them  a  chase  over  the  sea, 
And  steal  away  by  the  Shetland  lee 
With  a  golden  ring  and  chain  for  me, 

And  the  King  shall  pay  for  it  all  1 


THIS  SPRING   OF  LOVE.  15 

"The  fisher  may  toil  fora  penny  fee, 
My  sailor  brings  fortune  over  the  sea  ; 

And  the  King  must  pay  for  it  all  ! 
His  ship  is  steady,  and  strong,  and  tight ; 
He  can  sing  and  dance,  and  sail  and  fight ; 
His  hand  is  ready  to  take  his  right  ; 
A  lucky  cargo  he  lands  to-night, 

And  the  King  must  pay  for  it  all  !  " 

As  she  finished  the  verse  Jane  Sinclair  joined 
her  and  said,  "  It  is  not  wise,  then,  to  sing  such 
songs.  If  the  minister  heard,  he  would  not 
like  it,  Christina.  That  is  certain." 

"  Very  well,  then,  he  need  not  to  listen." 

"  And  Paul  Thorsen  would  be  of  the  same 
mind." 

"  He  too,  then.     He  need  not  to  listen." 

"  Is  Paul  not  to  be  thy  good-man?" 

"  '  Good-man  ! '  Few  of  them  deserve  that 
name." 

"  Paul  is  a  good  man.  Art  thou  not  to  be 
his  wife?" 

"  One  might  get  a  worse  marriage." 

"  I  heard  that  he  had  asked  thee  to  be  his 
wife.' 

"  I  heard  that,  too." 

"  What  did  thou  say  to  that  question?  " 

"  I  said  what  I  said." 

"  Thou  can  do  nothing  but  mock,  Christina." 


1 6  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"Well  then,  Jane?" 

"  I  will  go  into  no  more  questions  and 
guesses  with  thee.  There  is  too  much  love 
in  the  world,  else  it  would  not  be  squandered 
on  the  unworthy.  That  is  what  I  think." 

"  Fret  not  thyself  about  Paul.  It  is  his  own 
fault  if  he  loves  me.  He  can  come,  and  he  can 
go.  What  hinders  him  ?  " 

"  Love  hinders  him.  Well  thou  knowest,  in 
the  matter  of  love,  the  beginning  is  when  one 
likes,  but  the  ending  is  when  one  can."  Then 
Jane  turned  away ;  but  Christina,  seating  her 
self  on  the  edge  of  the  fountain,  finished  her 
song  to  the  babble  and  tinkle  of  the  falling 
water. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PAUL  THORSEN'S  TEMPTATION. 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation, 
Sufficient  to  have  stood,  though  free  to  fall. 

Every  man  is  the  first  man  to  himself, 
And  Eves  are  just  as  plentiful  as  apples, 


is  no  one  that  can  play  the  fool  so 
J[  completely  as  a  wise  man  ;  and  many  be 
sides  Magnus  Yool  were  very  sorry  to  see  the 
grave  and  good  Paul  Thorsen  so  bewitched  by 
a  pretty  face.  "  But  why  shall  I  talk  to  him 
on  the  matter  ?  "  asked  Magnus,  "  for  he  hath 
put  his  ears  to  sleep."  Even  Paul's  mother, 
after  one  or  two  attempts  to  reason  with  her 
son,  gave  up  all  hope  of  preventing  the  mar 
riage. 

"  What  is  to  be  is  sure  to  happen,"  she  said 
with  a  dreary  resignation  ;  "  and  when  men  will 
not  listen  to  reason,  what  need  to  be  wasteful 
of  words  ?  " 


I&  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

And,  indeed,  there  was  good  cause  for  the 
hopeless  resignation  of  Margery's  decision. 
For  Paul's  infatuation  increased  steadily.  He 
had  been  a  careful,  prudent  man  ;  always  living 
strictly  within  the  rim  of  his  shilling,  and  put 
ting  a  large  share  of  his  earnings  away.  But  at 
Christina's  word  his  sovereigns  melted  into 
ornaments  and  silk,  and  into  new  and  often  un 
necessary  furniture.  If  Paul  Thorsen,  aged 
twenty-seven,  could  have  foreseen  what  follies 
Paul  Thorsen,  aged  twenty-eight,  would  be 
guilty  of,  he  would  have  asked  anxiously, 
"  Shall  I,  then,  be  mad  a  year  hence  ?  " 

It  was  well  that  the  courtship  was  a  short 
one,  and  that  at  the  end  of  three  months  Paul 
took  his  bride  to  his  home.  It  was  a  comfort 
able  house  of  five  rooms,  built  of  stone  and  well 
furnished,  and  from  the  cellar  to  the  roof-coping 
it  had  been  made  spotlessly  clean  for  its  new 
mistress.  She  came  to  it  at  the  head  of  a  bridal 
procession  of  two  hundred  women  and  men  ; 
stepping  proudly,  in  her  silk  dress  and  gold  and 
silver  ornaments,  to  the  joyful  strains  of  the 
bridal  song.  It  swelled  all  along  the  line,  it 
filled  the  old  grey  streets  with  a  jubilant  noise, 
for  it  was  taken  up  by  the  women  standing  in 


PAUL    THORSEN'S   TEMPTATION.  1 9 

their  doors  and  looking  from  their  windows; 
and  by  the  little  children  who  ran  alongside 
and  peeped  at  Christina  with  merry  mischiev 
ous  faces  as  they  piped,  in  thin  clear  voices  : 

"  Hey  the  bonnie  bride  and  the  breast-knots  of  white  ! 

God  bless  her,  on  every  hand, 

With  the  health  of  the  sea  and  the  wealth  of  the  sea, 
With  love  and  with  gold,  and  with  land. 

Then  there  followed  some  days  and  weeks  in 
the  which  Paul  thought  himself  to  be  the  most 
blessed  of  men.  Christina  was  delighted  with 
her  new  position,  and  disposed  to  take  to  the 
full  all  the  privileges  it  gave  her.  And  one  of 
her  first  acts  of  authority  was  to  entirely  re 
arrange  the  house.  Paul  sat  in  his  chair  and 
watched  her.  He  found  it  delightful  to  see  her 
tripping  busily  about,  and  he  was  charmed  to 
be  consulted  about  the  position  of  every  chair 
and  table.  For  she  looked  so  beautiful  with 
her  tucked-up  hair  and  dress,  and  her  fine  arms 
white  and  bare,  and  her  little  airs  of  perplexity 
and  interest — so  beautiful  that  he  never  wearied 
of  watching  her. 

But  it  was  a  very  different  thing  to  Margery 
Thorsen.  She  sat  pained  and  silent  as  the 
rooms  she  had  made  so  clean  and  pleasant  were 


20  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

re-cleaned  and  re-ordered.  Women  may  de 
ceive  men,  but  they  rarely  deceive  women. 
Margery  understood  Christina.  She  was  quite 
sure  that  all  this  pretty  pretence  was  part  of  a 
well-considered  plan  for  her  removal.  But 
what  could  she  say?  If  she  had  given  her 
thought  utterance  Christina  would  have  fled  to 
Paul  with  tears  of  injured  innocence,  and  she 
must  have  taken  the  position  of  a  jealous  and 
unreasonable  woman. 

But  oh,  why  did  not  Paul  perceive  the  strait  in 
which  she  was?  Paul,  who  had  ever  before  been 
so  ready  to  enter  into  all  her  feelings,  and  sympa 
thize  with  all  her  sorrows  and  annoyances. 
Often  she  let  her  work  drop,  and  looked  into  his 
face  with  eyes  full  of  grief  and  amazement.  He 
did  not  see  in  them  the  petrified  tears — the  piti 
ful  questions,  which  none  but  he  could  answer. 
Alas !  Alas !  that  even  the  sweetest  love 
should  too  often  be  in  its  first  development 
purely  selfish ;  thinking  only  of  its  own  happi 
ness,  forgetful  of  relative  duties  and  of  soberer 
affections.  Margery  Thorsen  uttered  no  com 
plaint,  but  her  heart  grew  very  still ;  so  still  that 
she  thought  something  must  have  died  there. 
For  this  was  one  of  those  dumb  sorrows  which 


PAUL   THORSEN'S   TEMPTATION.  " 

hunt  in  silent  packs ;  they  do  not  bark,  but  oh ! 
how  they  rend  the  desolate  and  aching  heart ! 

So,  to  Christina,  the  first  weeks  of  her  mar 
ried  life  passed  pleasantly  enough.     She  was 
well  known,  and  she  was  quite  happy  in  receiv 
ing  visits  of  congratulation  and  in  the  exhibi 
tion  of  her  pretty  home.     But  in  a  little  while 
the  interest  in  her  wedding  died  out,  and  there 
was  no  more  to  be  said  on  that  matter.     Then 
Isabel   Hay  married,  and  her  tocher  and  fine 
plenishing  was  on  every  one's  tongue.     Isabel 
had  been  one  of  Christina's   companions,  and 
she  was  among  the  first  to  call  upon  the  new 
bride.     The  visit  filled  her  with  dissatisfaction 
about  her  own  position.     Isabel   had   a   sofa 
and  a  set  of  gilded  china,  and  Christina,  want 
ing  these  things  felt  as  if  she  had  nothing. 

Passing  Nicol  Sinclair's  house  she  saw  his 
sister  Jane  standing  within  the  open  door. 
Very  soon  they  were  talking  of  the  bride,  and 
Christina  spoke  with  ill-concealed  jealousy  of 
her  many  belongings. 

"  But  I  envy  her  not,  Christina,"  said  Jane  ; 
"what  comes  wrong   never  stays  long, 
minister  will  tell  you  the  same  thing.     He  will 
that." 


$1  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  Hay  has  done  well  for  his  family,  Jane , 
and  it  were  a  good  thing  if  more  of  our  men 
had  his  spirit." 

"Tell  that  to  Paul  Thorsen,  and  thou  wilt 
see  how  he  will  answer  thee.  And  if  a  man 
does  wrong,  then  how  can  he  do  well  ?  Thou 
knows  better." 

"  I  will  tell  Paul.  Oh,  yes !  I  will  tell  him 
soon  and  fast  now.  As  for  doing  wrong,  there 
is  no  wrong  in  the  matter.  Hay  pays  good 
money  for  whatever  he  brings  into  harbor. 
Yes,  indeed  he  does." 

"  He  cheats  the  Government  and  he  breaks 
the  laws.  If  he  was  caught  he  would  go  to 
prison  instead  of  to  sea.  A  good  woman  will 
not  ask  her  man  to  take  his  honor  and  his  life 
in  his  hands— for  what  ?  That  she  may  wear 
fine  clothes,  and  sit  upon  a  sofa,  and  drink  her 
tea  out  of  a  gilded  tea-cup.  That  is  what  I  say." 

"  Thou  art  only  a  woman  by  thyself.  There 
is  nothing  wrong  in  the  trade.  That  is  what  I 
say.  That  is  what  wiser  and  richer  folks  than 
thou  art  say.  Yes,  indeed  !  " 

"  Why,  then,  did  the  minister  reprove  Hay, 
not  once,  but  twice,  from  the  pulpit  ?  Why  did 
he  refuse  to  him  the  holy  cup  ?  Thou  knows 


PAUL    THOR SEN'S   TEMPTATION.  *$ 

right  well  it  is  wrong.  Thou  must  not  be 
another  Eve,  and  let  the  devil  use  thee  to  tempt 
a  good  man  to  sin." 

"  Who  gave  thee  a  license  to  preach  to  me  ? 
Now  I  will  go,  and  it  will  be  long  ere  I  speak 
to  thee  again,  Jane  Sinclair." 

With  the  words  she  turned  away  from  Jane, 
holding  her  pretty  head  very  high  and  lifting 
her  dress  well,  in  order  to  show  the  fine  latched 
shoes  which  Paul  had  procured  her  by  sending 
to  Aberdeen  for  them. 

That  night  when  Paul  returned  to  his  home 
it  was  after  ten  hours'  hard  work  and  he  was 
physically  very  weary.  Christina  threw  around 
him  all  the  enchantments  of  her  beauty  and 
manner.  She  made  him  the  hot,  strong  tea 
which  he  loved,  she  fed  him  with  the  food  he 
relished,  she  sat  beside  him  in  the  glow  of  the 
comfortable  fire,  she  caressingly  held  between 
her  own  his  big  brown  hand.  When  his  pipe 
had  still  further  soothed  him,  she  told  him  of 
her  visit  to  Isabel  Sabay  and  expatiated  on  the 
beauty  and  desirableness  of  the  many  things 
which  Isabel's  house  contained. 

Paul  grew  restless  as  she  spoke,  but  he  .kept 
his  own  opinion  and  answered  her  not. 


24  PAUL  A. VI)    CHRISTINA. 

u  Say  that  thou  will  give  them  to  me.  Say 
that,  Paul." 

I  cannot,  then,  say  that.  All  I  have,  all  I 
can  earn,  is  for  thee.  I  will  try  and  work 
harder—if  I  can  get  the  work  to  do." 

"How  foolish  thou  art,  Paul!  Why  need 
thou  work  so  hard  ?  Why  dost  thou  go  to  the 
fishing  at  all  ?  Such  a  strong  man,  such  a  good 
sailor,  as  thou  art !  The  nets  I  would  fling  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Ragon  Hay  will  give 
thee  far  better  work.  Listen  to  me,  Paul." 

He  roused  himself  then,  and  looked  steadily 
into  the  rosy  face  full  of  winsome  charms 
lifted  to  his.  -Dost  thou  mean  the  words 
which  thou  hast  said  to  me,  Christina?" 

"Ay,  I  mean  them;  every  word,  I  mean  it." 
She  thought  her  victory  was  won  and  she 
smiled   brightly  and  drew  down  his  face  and 
kissed   him.      He  rose  up  then   and    put   her 
gently,    but     very    firmly,    away    from    him. 
"Know  this,  my  Christina,"  he  answered:  "I 
would  cut  off  my  right  hand-ay,  I  would  turn 
my  back  on  thee,  beloved  one,  forever— rather 
than  do  the  thing  thou  asks  of  me." 

His  eyes  were  glowing  and  his  face  stem  and 
set  to  his  purpose.     A  wise  woman  would  have 


PAUL    T&ORSEN'S   TEMPTATION.  25 

perceived  that  he  was  as  immovable  on  this 
subject  as  Sunburgh  Head.  But  Christina  had 
no  conception  of  a  nature  beyond  temptation. 
If  smiles  would  not  move  him  then  she  would 
try  tears.  She  put  her  face  upon  her  folded 
arms  and  cried  passionately. 

He  stood  looking  at  her.  Love  and  anger 
strove  hard  in  his  heart.  In  a  few  moments 
he  touched  her  gently.  "  My  Christina,  stop 
crying  and  then  I  will  talk  to  thee." 

The  pretty,  girlish  figure,  shaking  with  emo 
tion,  made  him  shiver  with  pain.  He  stooped 
and  kissed  her  unbound  hair  and  passed  it 
gently  through  his  fingers. 

"  Christina,  wilt  thou  now  listen  to  me  ?  " 

"Thou — art — so — cruel !  "  she  sobbed. 

"  Nay ;  but  I  would  be  cruel  if  I  took  a  penny 
of  wage  from  Ragon  Hay.  Let  us  stop  this 
talk — now  and  forever.  There  is  not  coined 
gold  enough  in  the  W7hole  world  to  buy  me  ; 
there  is  not  a  woman  living  who  could  tempt 
me." 

"  I  thought  that  I  had  married  a  man.  It 
seems,  then,  that  I  knew  thee  not." 

"  Such  as  I  am  thou  wed  me — an  honest 
fisher  that  never  made  a  dirty  shilling." 


2 6  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"Thou  lovest  me  not." 

"  Oh,  Christina !  I  would  give  my  life  for  thy 
life!  But  my  soul?  No;  that  is  another  mat 
ter.  Dear,  dear,  dear,  art  thou  to  me,  Christina ; 
but  this  night  thou  hast  hurt  me  very  sorely. 
It  is  as  though  thou  had  struck  me  a  blow 
across  my  heart — it  quivers  in  my  breast,  and 
aches  as  if  thou  had  wounded  it." 

He  stood  erect,  but  great  tears  were  in  his 
eyes,  and  a  divine  pity  in  his  soul,  for  the  erring 
woman  whom  he  loved  so  tenderly. 

"For  a  little  while,  Paul?  A  dozen  trips 
would  do." 

"  Not  one,  Christina  !    No,  no  ;  indeed,  no  !  " 

"  Mind  this,  then  ;  I  will  ask  nothing  from 
thee  again.  Thou  wilt  be  sorry  for  this  hour. 
I  tell  thee  that." 

With  the  words  on  her  lips  she  rose  up  in  a 
passion  and  went  from  the  room,  leaving  Paul 
shocked  and  almost  sick  with  the  sudden 
trouble  which  had  come  to  him. 

The  next  day  was  a  very  stormy  one.  The 
wind  from  the  southward  blew  in  savage  gusts, 
and  the  black  clouds  hung  above  a  black  sea 
tumbling  wild  and  high.  Paul  stood  with  his 
mother  at  the  open  door,  the  swift  rain  smiting 


PAUL    THOR SEN'S   TEMPTATION.  zj 

their  sad  faces.  It  was  afternoon,  but  Christina 
had  not  spoken  again  to  her  husband.  "  She 
had  a  headache,"  she  said,  and  she  remained 
in  her  bed,  deaf  apparently  both  to  Paul's  and 
Margery's  offers  of  service.  Nothing  had  been 
told  Margery  concerning  the  dispute ;  but  she 
understood  very  well  that  some  great  sorrow 
had  come  to  her  son. 

"  It  will  be  a  wild  night,  Paul.  Listen  to  me, 
and  go  not  to  the  fishing.  See  now,  the  sea- 
birds  are  making  for  the  rocks." 

"Yes,  I  must  go,  my  mother.  Be  thou  kind 
to  Christina.  Wilt  thou  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  will,  For  thy  sake,  I  will  be  kind. 
Stay  yet  for  one  moment,  Paul." 

Then  she  hastened  up-stairs  and  said  pleas- 
antly,  "  Here  is  Paul  going  to  the  fishing, 
Christina.  It  will  be  a  bad  night,  I  think.  Do 
thou  ask  him  and  he  will  stay  at  home.  Yes, 
he  will  if  thou  ask  him." 

"  Paul  Thorsen  can  take  his  own  way.  I 
asked  him  last  night  to  do  something  for  my 
sake,  and  he  would  not.  Very  well,  then  I  will 
ask  nothing  more  of  him." 

"  For  all  that  I  beg  thee  to  ask  him  just  this 
once." 


28  PAUL  AND    CHRISTINA. 

"  No,  I  will  not.  I  will  ask  nothing  at  all  of 
him." 

Paul  understood  how  it  was  when  he  saw  his 
mother's  face.  There  was  no  need  to  say  a  word. 
He  kissed  her  and  pulling  his  hat  down  over  his 
brows  he  went  away  into  the  storm. 

No  sooner  had  he  gone  than  Christina  arose. 
There  was  to  be  a  party  at  the  bride's  house 
and  she  had  promised  to  be  there.  Carefully 
she  dressed,  and  then,  covering  herself  with  the 
long  blue  cloak  and  hood  worn  by  all  Shetland 
women  she  went  down  stairs  and  opened  thte 
door.  Margery  looked  up  quickly  for  it  was 
nearly  dark,  and  the  rain  was  beating  against 
the  windows. 

"Where,  then,  art  thou  going,  Christina?  It 
is  on  the  edge  of  the  night ;  it  is  wet  and  windy 
also." 

"  I  am  going  to  Isabel  Sabay's.  She  has  a 
party  to-night." 

"  Look  over  the  sea !  Paul  is  there — in  the 
wind  and  rain — for  thee  and  for  me  he  is  there  ! 

"  It  is  his  will  to  go  fishing.  It  is  my  will  to 
go  to  Isabel's." 

"  If  the  wind  continues  to  rise  he  will  be  in 
great  danger.  Christina,  I  am  sick  with  fear. 


PAUL    THOR SEN'S   TEMPTATIOE.  29 

It  is  on  my  knees  I  shall  pass  the  hours  until 
he  returns — if  so  it  may  please  God  to  send  him 
back  at  all.  Stay  with  me  !  On  such  a  night 
as  this  the  freezing  Arctic  wind  came  down 
that  slew  thy  father  and  thy  brothers.  Stay 
and  watch  with  me,  Christina !  Paul  is  a  good 
man  to  thee  and  dearly  does  he  love  thee !  " 

"  I  have  promised  Isabel." 

"  But  Isabel  knows  well  that  a  fisher's  wife 
must  watch,  and  weep,  and  pray." 

"It  seems  to  me  that  thou  loves  weeping. 
That  may  be  well  for  thee  ;  but  while  I  am  young 
I  will  be  happy.  I  cannot  help  Paul  by  staying 
with  thee." 

"  There  will  be  fiddling  and  dancing  and  sing 
ing,  and  the  light  talk  of  light  foolish  hearts  at 
Isabel's.  Oh,  woman !  woman !  if  Paul  be 
drowning  while  thou  art  dancing  how  could  I 
ever  look  at  thy  face  again  ?  " 

"  Thou  art  talking  to  no  purpose  at  all.  I  am 
going  to  Isabel's." 

Then  Margery's  anger  rose.  "  Thou  art  a 
cruel,  bad  wife  !  Under  the  same  roof  I  will 
not  live  with  thee  another  day." 

"  Well,  then,  I  shall  be  able  to  live  without 
thee.  And  I  am  glad  thou  art  going  and  I  wish 


30  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

that  thou  had  gone  long  since.  Thou  hast 
made  plenty  of  trouble  between  Paul  and  me. 
When  thou  art  away  he  may  be  kinder  to  me, 
perhaps." 

"  Me  make  trouble  between  Paul  and  thee  ! " 

"Ay,  thou  hast  done  it.  Very  often  thou 
hast  done  it.  Thou  hast  made  Paul  unkind  to 
me  also." 

"  Paul  unkind  to  thee !  Oh,  how  thou  dost 
lie  !  I  have  been  patient  beyond  wisdom  with 
thee.  As  for  my  poor  Paul,  he  hath  been  fool 
ishly  kind  to  thee.  Go  thy  ways  now.  I  will 
speak  no  more  with  thee." 

Christina  answered  not,  but  she  shut  the  door 
violently  as  she  passed  through  it.  Then  Mar 
gery  put  her  hands  to  her  head  and  fell  upon 
her  knees  with  a  long,  low  cry — the  forlorn 
cry  of  a  heart  which  God  has  so  made  that  it 
cannot  but  cry  when  it  is  sore  stricken.  All 
the  waves  of  her  stormy  sea  of  trouble  went 
over  her  ;  but  it  was  not  long  until  the  tumult 
was  over,  and  a  solemn  silence  took  its  place — 
a  silence  that  was  a  sanctuary  in  which  the 
Divine  voice  could  be  heard. 

In  this  calm  she  rose  up,  took  the  rush  candle 
4«  -her  hand,  and  went  to  the  table  where  the 


PAUL    TIf OR  SEN'S   TEMPTATION.  31 

big  Bible  lay ;  and  as  the  good  in  all  ages  have 
done,  she  opened  it  at  a  venture,  hoping  for 
some  word  of  comfort. 

"  Thou  did'st  walk  through  the  sea  with 
Thine  horses;  through  the  heap  of  great 
waters."  * 

That  was  sufficient  for  her.  If  Jehovah  was 
walking  through  the  great  waters  she  had  no 
fear.  Paul  was  safe.  And  as  for  any  slander 
that  might  touch  her  good  name  she  was  de 
termined  to  bear  it  in  quietness.  "  It  is  well 
known,"  she  said  to  her  heart,  "that  God  rights 
those  who  keep  silence." 

She  sat  musing  until  after  midnight  listen 
ing  to  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  storm.  Some 
times  there  would  be  a  sudden  pause  of  intense 
stillness  and  she  felt  compelled  to  listen  as  if 
in  it  she  was  to  hear  some  message  of  life  and 
death.  Then  came  the  tumult  of  rushing  winds 
and  breaking  waves,  and  the  ever-recurring  ter 
ror  that,  above  all  the  clamor,  she  would  hear 
that  most  fearful  of  all  noises — the  crying  of  men 
on  a  wrecked  ship.  No  familiar  experience  had 
made  Margery  able  to  keep  such  watches  with 
indifference  ;  and  although  she  had  that  night 

*  Habakkuk,  3.  15. 


32  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

asked  Christina  to  stay  with  her,  the  request 
sprang  from  no  desire  for  human  companion 
ship  or  sympathy,  she  had  never  found  that 
sufficient.  It  was  such  help  as  she  had  just 
sought  that  she  always  looked  for — "  One 
friendly  look,  one  certain  word  out  of  the  vague 
and  vast."  And, 

Oh  !  though  oft  she  could  not  call, 

But  just  was  faithful,  that  was  all, 

And  went  right  on  ;  yet  close  behind  her 

There  would  follow,  and  still  find  her, 

Help,  suie  help  ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

A    WILFUL  WOMAN. 

What  of  the  heart  of  love 

That  bleeds  in  thy  breast,  O  man? 
Thy  bells  prolonged  unto  knells, 
Thy  hope  that  a  breath  dispels, 
Thy  bitter,  forlorn  farewells 

And  the  empty  echoes  thereof  ? 

Still  we  say  as  we  go, 

"  Strange  to  think  by  the  way, 
Whatever  there  is  to  know, 

That  shall  we  know  one  day." 

WHEN  Paul  spoke  of  going  to  the  fishing 
he  knew  the  resolution  to  be  one  which 
a  v/ord  or  a  look  from  Christina  would  break. 
He  had  fully  expected  that  she  would  urge  him 
not  to  go.  Many  a  time,  when  the  weather 
was  even  less  stormy,  she  had  hung  round  his 
neck  with  entreaties  or  had  watched  him  away 
with  her  bright  blue  eyes  full  of  tears.  This 
night  there  was  every  lawful  excuse  for  yield 
ing  to  such  a  request  and  he  hoped  that  Chris- 


34  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

tina  would  give  him  the  opportunity  of  grant 
ing  what  she  desired. 

But  there  is  no  resentment  so  cruel  as  the 
resentment  of  a  selfish  soul  whose  vanity  is 
also  made  to  suffer.  Besides,  she  hoped  even 
yet,  to  work  her  husband  to  her  own  wishes. 
Before  she  married  him  she  had  decided  that 
Paul  should  leave  the  fishing  fleet,  and  join 
that  band  of  questionable  traders  whose  profits, 
if  precarious,  seemed  to  her  so  much  more  de 
sirable.  For  there  was  no  comparison  in  her 
opinion  between  the  ling  and  the  herring  of  the 
one  fleet,  and  the  silks,  and  tea,  and  brandy  of 
the  other. 

To  the  secrecy  and  danger  of  the  latter  en 
terprise  she  had  no  objection.  Her  moral 
nature  was  not  a  sensitive  one  ;  she  longed  for 
many  other  fine  things  besides  a  set  of  gilded 
china  and  she  really  thought  it  was  the  duty 
of  Paul  to  satisfy  her  desires.  His  scruples 
appeared  to  her  ridiculous.  "  Dirke  Hay  and 
Jeppe  Sabay  are  as  good  men  as  Paul  Thorsen, 
and  they  do  not  ask  the  king's  leave  to  buy  and 
sell  as  it  pleases  them."  Thus  she  thought,  as 
she  lay  sulking  in  her  bed.  She  recalled  also 
the  beauty  of  Isabel  Sabay's  blue  silk  dress, 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  3$ 

her  gold  brooch,  and  long  gold  ear-rings,  and 
she  felt  that  unless  Paul  would  do  the  same  for 
her  she  had  made  a  great  mistake  in  marrying 
him. 

"  He  says  he  loves  me,"  she  muttered  ;  "  then 
let  him  make  me  sure  of  it.  If  he  will  join  Jeppe 
Sabay  I  will  believe  he  loves  me ;  if  he  won't 
— well,  then  it  will  be  the  worse  for  him !  If  a 
man  has  a  beautiful  wife  he  ought  to  give  her 
beautiful  things.  That  is  what  Jeppe  and  Isa 
bel  say  and  my  thought  is  the  same.  Yes, 
indeed  !  And  I  will  make  Paul  to  understand 
it." 

Margery's  appeal  had  not  greatly  moved  her. 
"  If  there  is  really  any  danger,"  she  thought, 
"  no  man  will  know  it  better  than  Paul  Thor- 
sen.  And  also  if  he  goes  to  the  fishing  to 
night  I  can  go  to  the  party  at  Isabel's.  There 
will  be  some  pleasure  there  and  company  to 
my  mind.  Then  Paul  will  see  that  I  have  a 
will  of  my  own  and  in  the  end  he  will  do  as  I 
counsel  him.  Why  not  ?  Always  he  does  so." 

She  was  sure  of  this  result  because  she  was 
unable  to  make  a  very  important  distinction 
between  Paul's  personal  preferences  and  his 
moral  convictions.  The  first  Paul  could  easily 


36  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

surrender  to  her;  the  latter  had  their  roots 
deep  in  his  nature  and  not  for  life  itself  would 
'he  relinquish  a  tittle  of  them.  But  Christina 
having  always  succeeded  in  putting  Paul's  per 
sonal  desires  below  her  own.  could  not  suppose 
a  case  where  some  intangible  moral  influence 
should  be  more  omnipotent  than  her  wishes, 
her  beauty  and  her  caresses. 

So  she  would  say  no  word  to  stay  him  from 
the  sea  and  Paul,  heart-wounded  and  sorrow 
ful  in  all  his  senses,  set  his  face  against  the 
wind  and  rain,  and  went  with  rapid  strides  to 
wards  the  beach.  On  his  way  there,  he  pushed 
open  the  door  of  Magnus  Yool's  cottage  and 
said,  "  I  am  for  the  fishing ;  "  and  Magnus  rose 
without  a  word,  put  on  his  oil-skins,  swung  his 
water-bottle  by  his  side,  and  then  with  his 
weighty  tread  followed  his  mate. 

It  was  well  known  that  Thorsen  never  much 
minded  weather,  and  though  an  old  fisherman 
looked  dubiously  up  at  the  sky  he  did  not  think 
of  interfering.  No  men  could  handle  a  boat 
more  finely  than  Paul  and  Magnus,  and  for  a 
few  minutes  he  watched  them  as  they  cowered 
southward  under  a  bare  strip  of  mainsail,  for 
the  tide  was  running  with  extraordinary  swift- 


'  A  WILFUL  WOMAN.  37 

ness  and  the  gusts  of  wind  struck  the  bit  of 
canvas  like  the  sound  of  musketry.  Then  he 
turned  into  his  own  cottage.  The  risk  of  life 
was  part  of  a  fisherman's  day's  work,  what  need 
then,  to  make  a  fuss  about  it  ? 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  Margery's  watch 
was  over  ;  Paul  came  home.  She  heard  his 
feet  upon  the  shingle  and  she  rose  quickly  and 
stirred  the  fire  and  set  wide  open  the  house 
door.  The  light  upon  the  threshold  gave  him 
a  sudden  hope  and  he  looked  up  eagerly.  But 
a  moment's  glance  showed  him  it  was  not 
Christina  waiting  with  light  and  love  to 
welcome  him.  He  loved  his  mother  truly,  but 
he  felt  her  presence  at  that  moment  to  be  a 
keen  disappointment. 

"  Thanks  to  The  Best  !  "  said  Margery,  as  her 
son  crossed  the  door-step ;  and  Paul,  sad  and 
weary  as  he  was,  piously  echoed  the  salutation. 
Simple  as  the  rite  of  gratitude  was,  its  observ 
ance  lifted  him  out  of  the  selfishness  of  his 
mood.  He  made  an  effort  to  smile  into  his 
mother's  face  and  he  drew  the  bar  across  the 
door  for  her  ere  he  sank  with  a  sigh  of  relief 
into  the  big  chair  by  the  ruddy  fire. 

He   was   worn    out.     His    hair    and    beard 


3 3  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

were  dripping,  his  clothing  frozen  stiff,  his 
hands  cut  and  bleeding  with  handling  the  icy 
rigging.  "We  have  saved  our  lives  and  the 
boat,"  he  said  drearily,  "but  the  lines  are  lost." 

"  Let  them  go.  If  the  burgh's  men  are  safe, 
let  the  deep  sea  have  the  lines." 

He  was  painfully  alert  for  any  movement  up 
stair  which  might  indicate  that  Christina  had 
heard  his  arrival.  The  continuance  of  her  anger 
almost  terrified  him.  He  was  hungry  for  a 
sight  of  her  face,  and  he  knew  that  he  would  be 
wretched  until  he  was  at  peace  with  her.  But 
he  asked  no  questions  until  he  sat  drinking  his 
basin  of  hot  tea  by  the  fire.  Then  he  said, 
"Where  is  Christina,  mother?" 

"  Isabel  Sabay  hath  a  tea-drinking.  Chris 
tina  is  there." 

After  a  painful  silence  he  asked,  "  Is  it  not 
very  late  for  a  tea-drinking  ?  " 

"Well,  then  there  would  be  fiddles  and 
dancing.  Thou  knowest  how  the  whole  night 
is  often  thus  spent." 

"  Did  she  think  I  was  at  sea  ?  " 

"  Ay,  she  knew  it  well." 

"  Thou  told  her  ?  " 

"  Ay,  I  told  her.     Kind  and  strong  words  I 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  39 

said  to  her,  but  she  heard  me  not.     The  sound 
of  the  fiddles  had  filled  her  ears." 

"  Mother,  I  am  in  trouble ;  give  me  thy 
counsel." 

"  Nay,  I  will  say  neither  this  nor  that  in  the 
matter.  Only  God  can  be  counsellor  between 
a  man  and  his  wife.  But  when  the  rain  is  over, 
thou  must  take  me  to  thy  sister's  house.  I  will 
stay  here  no  longer." 

Paul  did  not  say  "Why?"  He  only  asked, 
"  Art  thou  sure  this  change  must  be  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  will  be  best  for  thee  that  I  go  ; 
or  be  sure  there  is  nothing  that  could  move 
me.  And  if  I  be  here,  or  if  I  be  there,  it  can 
make  no  difference  between  us  two,  Paul." 

"  For  my  sake  bear  a  little  longer,  mother." 

"  Nay,  it  is  better  for  thy  sake  that  I  go.  It 
can  as  I  said,  make  no  difference  between  us ; 
it  may  make  a  deal  of  difference  between  thee 
and  Christina.  She  is  weary  of  me,  she  loves 
me  not,  I  can  never  please  her — let  me  go 
without  more  words  about  it." 

He  stooped  forward  and  took  her  hands,  and 
kissed  her ;  after  which  he  walked  to  the  door 
and  looked  out.  The  storm  was  fleeing  south 
ward  ;  only  from  the  skirts  of  it  yet  fell  the 


4°  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

soaking  rain.  But  the  wind  had  lulled  and  he 
could  hear  in  the  distance  the  laughter  and  fit 
ful  singing  of  a  noisy  party  convoying  each 
other  to  their  homes.  He  judged  that  they 
were  bringing  Christina  back  and  he  went  in 
and  sat  down  to  wait  for  her. 

She  came  into  the  house  radiant  with  excite 
ment  and  rosy  with  the  fresh  salt  air.  Throw 
ing  off  her  blue  flannel  cloak  she  advanced  to 
the  fireside  and  stood  there  with  the  triumph 
and  air  of  a  woman  who  feels  her  own  power 
and  loveliness.  Paul  looked  at  her  from  under 
his  dropped  eyelids.  Her  ruby-colored  merino 
set  off  perfectly  the  rose  and  snow  of  her  ex 
quisite  complexion,  and  her  bright  yellow  hair 
fell  in  long  wavy  masses  about  her  shoulders. 
She  knew  she  was  torturing  Paul  and  she  en 
joyed  the  cruel  work,  singing  softly  to  herself 
as  she  stood  in  the  glowing  shadows  and  sway- 
ing  her  graceful  form  to  the  lilting  melody. 

Margery  left  the  room  and  they  were  alone, 
yet  Christina  would  not  speak  to  her  husband. 
Paul  waited  until  he  could  bear  it  no  longer  ; 
then  he  said  slowly,  "  We  came  near  to  death's 
door  this  night.  All  of  the  lines  are  gone  to 
the  bottom," 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  41 

"  Out  of  pure  stubbornness-thou  went  to  sea. 
I  am  glad  the  lines  are  lost.  I  am  that  !  " 

"When  I  go  to  the  sea  again,  Christina — fine 
or  foul  weather — thou  stay  at  home!  See  thou 
do  it.  I  will  not  have  thee  dancing  and  sing 
ing  when  I  am  between  the  great  winds  and 
the  deep  sea.  Mind  that  now  !  " 

"  I  will  tell  thee  once  for  all,  Paul  Thorsen, 
that  I  will  go  where  I  like  and  I  will  go  when 
I  wish.  Thou  wilt  do  nothing  to  pleasure  me. 
Very  well ;  I  will  seek  my  own  pleasure — that 
I  will !  "  And  she  turned  and  left  him  ere  he 
could  answer  her  a  wo-rd. 

So  he  sat  alone  with  his  trouble ;  sometimes 
angry,  sometimes  covering  his  face  to  weep. 
He  was  stunned,  and  shamed,  and  suffering, 
and  quite  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  He  thought  of 
all  the  men  he  had  known  and  he  discovered 
no  parallel  in  their  cases  to  suit  his  own.  Hour 
after  hour  he  sat  stupid  with  wretched  drifting 
thoughts,  until  Margery  came  in  to  build  up 
the  fire  and  make  the  breakfast. 

Then  he  knew  it  was  morning ;  and  he  opened 
the  door  and  looked  out  at  the  wan  gray  light, 
and  the  cold  broken  clouds,  and  the  black  toss 
ing  waves.  "  Worse  things  wait  for  men  than 


42  PAU£  AND   CHRISTINA, 

death,"  he  muttered,  as  he  went  back  to  his 
chair  by  the  smoking  peats ;  walking  slow 
and  trailing,  like  a  creature  that  had  been 
wounded. 

Margery  perceived  that  her  son  had  been  up 
all  night,  that  he  had  not  slept,  that  he  was  in 
great  sorrow.  But  she  did  not  reopen  the  sub 
ject  with  him.  Where  was  the  use  of  asking, 
"  What  said  thou,  and  what  did  she  answer 
thee  ?  "  For  it  was  evident  that  the  unhappy 
husband  had  come  to  no  understanding  with 
his  wife,  and  Margery  was  wisely  averse  to 
intermeddling  between  them. 

She  felt  that  it  was  best  for  her  to  go  away. 
Christina  had  said  words  which  could  not  be 
unsaid  and.  which  she  would  be  very  likely  to 
reiterate.  And  there  were  many  people  who 
would  be  inclined  to  take  Christina's  part ;  for 
man  or  woman  complaining  of  a  mother-in-law 
speaks  to  a  sympathy  always  forespoken  and 
waiting  for  them.  Indeed,  she  was  well  aware 
that  already  Christina  had  been  pitied  by  Isa 
bel  Sabay,  because  of  her  presence  in  the  house, 
She  knew  that  she  had  said  to  her :  "  Not  long 
would  Jeppe's  mother  meddle  or  make  in  my 
affairs ;  and  if  thou  would  have  thy  husband 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  43 

where  a  husband  should  be,  them  must  be  the 
only  one  to  say  this  or  that  to  him." 

Something  of  this  under-current  of  averse 
feeling  Margery  had  long  been  sensitive  to.  It 
was  hard  to  give  up  her  son,  but  then,  as  she 
told  herself,  he  had  in  a  measure  already  given 
her  up.  Once,  she  had  been  Paul's  firsfthought ; 
she  was  now  his  second.  It  was  to  Christina 
he  went  first ;  it  was  to  Christina  he  looked  for 
welcome,  and  sympathy,  and  society.  Perhaps 
it  was  her  duty  to -accept  the  change  as  natural 
and  inevitable  ;  but,  oh  !  even  in  the  ways  of 
duty  a  poor  mother-heart  can  suffer  a  thou 
sand  pangs. 

As  she  stooped  over  the  turfs  and  scattered 
the  meal  into  the  boiling  water  she  was  in  her 
sorrow  quite  as  miserable  as  Paul.  At  sixty 
years  of  age  changes  are  not  welcome,  espe 
cially  when  changes  involve  the  giving  up  of  an 
old  home  and  the  removal  to  a  new  one.  But 
if  it  must  be  done,  then  Margery  felt  "  it  would 
be  well  done  if  soon  done ;  "  and  after  the 
breakfast  was  eaten,  she  said,  "  To-day,  Paul,  I 
will  pack  my  linen  and  my  clothes  and  what 
ever  is  mine  ;  and  to-morrow  thou  wilt  take  me 
to  Voe  Ness,  JSfot  far  from  Nanna's  cottage 


44  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

there  is  one  long  empty ;  it  will  not  be  hard  to 
make  myself  very  comfortable  there." 

"  Mother,  I  like  not  such  a  way  as  that.  My 
father  built  this  house  for  thee  ;  twenty  years 
hath  thou  lived  in  it." 

"  Well,  well !  but  now  my  lease  in  it  is  run 
out  I  think  Paul.  Many  a  time  lately  I  have 
heard  a  voice  saying  to  me,  '  Go/  When  the 
soul  speaks  it  ought  to  be  obeyed.  Yes, 
indeed  !  And  it  will  better  for  thee  to  be  alone 
with  thy  wife ;  moreover,  what  is  better  for 
thee  is  better  for  me  also." 

"  When  a  man  is  in  trouble  then  he  looks  to 
his  mother." 

"  Sometimes  also  the  trouble  is  not  one 
which  a  mother  ought  to  sort.  Between  thee 
and  Christina  I  cannot  put  a  word,  no,  nor  a 
look.  She  loves  me  not — and,  perhaps,  I  love 
her  not.  The  last  few  months  have  been  very 
hard  to  me  ;  and  when  a  women  is  old  she 
looks  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  sorrow.  So,  then, 
I  am  going.  It  is  my  hope  that  it  will  be  for 
thy  happiness." 

"  There  will  be  many  unkind  things  spoken 
on  this  matter ;  and  what  is  to  be  said  to  the 
minister?  He  will  surely  blame  me  and  how 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  45 

can  I  tell  him,  '  Well,  then,  my  mother  and  my 
wife  could  not  sit  down  on  the  same  hearth.'  " 

"  And  wilt  thou  hope  to  see  happiness  through 
the  eyes  of  thy  neighbours  ?  Only  a  fool  does 
that.  What  have  they  to  do  between  thy 
wife  and  thee  ?  Into  Christina's  hands  thou 
hast  put  thy  welfare.  Well,  then,  from  her 
only  can  come  thy  peace  and  thy  prosperity. 
The  third  person  is  the  one  person  not  need 
ful.  If  I  speak,  or  if  I  speak  not  it  is  the  same. 
My  very  presence  can  make  the  ill-feeling." 

"  No,  no,  my  mother !  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  my  son.  Christina  thinks  while  I 
am  in  the  house  it  is  not  entirely  her  house. 
When  she  is  alone  she  will  take  more  interest 
in  it.  Then,  also,  she  will  go  less  to  Jeppe 
Sabay's  house.  And  the  same  thing  will  hap. 
pen  about  thyself.  When  I  am  gone  she  will 
not  have  to  share  one  of  thy  words  or  smiles 
with  me ;  and  she  will  know  that  thou  hast 
only  her  to  look  after  thy  comfort  and  she  will 
be  to  thee  a  better  wife.  That  is  what  I  think 
and  hope." 

"  I  meant  not  that  my  wife  should  push  my 
mother  from  her  fireside.  Christina  hath  a 
kind  heart." 


46  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"Well,  then,  Christina  must  not  be  tried  too 
far.  A  young  wife  thinks  that  she  is  the  only 
wife  in  the  word.  It  is  years  and  tears  that 
turn  a  young  wife  into  an  old  one.  We  must 
not  look  for  more  than  is  natural.  Without 
further  words,  my  Paul,  let  me  go.  It  will  be 
the  best  thing  for  all  of  us." 

Paul  bowed  his  head  and  urged  her  no  fur 
ther.  And  then  Margery,  with  a  very  natural 
inconsistency,  felt  wounded  that  he  accepted 
the  position  with  such  an  apparent  relief.  But 
Margery's  words  had  renewed  hope  in  Paul's 
heart.  Perhaps  Christina  would  indeed  be 
kinder  and  more  domestic  if  she  felt  herself  to 
be  in  sole  charge  of  his  home  and  his  comfort. 
He  had  known  sailors  who  were  sulky  and 
inefficient  while  they  had  no  interest  in  the 
boat,  turn  out  brave,  prudent,  and  capable  as 
soon  as  they  had  become  skippers  and  owners. 
He  was  thinking  of  the  possibilities  this  idea 
suggested  as  his  mother  spoke  ;  and  he  was 
mentally  too  slow  a  man  to  grasp  both  sides  of 
a  question  at  once,  much  less  to  express  a 
double  or  a  divided  interest. 

A  day  of  dull,  gray  misery  followed  this  con 
versation.  The  sea  was  beaten  quiet  by  the 


A    WILFUL    WOMAN.  47 

constant  heavy  rain ;  the  peaty  earth  was  a 
quagmire,  the  streets  of  the  little  town  lonely 
and  empty.  Paul  wandered  about  the  house, 
or  sat  gloomily  mending  his  nets.  Christina 
slept  heavily,  or  pretended  to  do  so.  She  had 
refused  her  breakfast,  and  declared  herself  too 
sick  to  get  up.  Margery  was  packing  her 
personal  property.  Here  and  there,  scattered 
among  Paul's  newer  furniture,  there  were  pieces 
of  her  own — the  simple,  heavy  bed,  and  table, 
and  chairs,  which  had  been  her  bridal  plenish 
ing.  Paul  helped  her  to  put  them  together, 
and  they  spoke  drearily  the  while  of  the  best 
way  to  carry  them  to  Voe  Ness. 

"  The  sea  way  is  the  best  way,  mother. 
Across  the  moor  the  road  will  be  to  find,  and 
who  can  tell  where  it  may  be  ?  Sinfather  and 
Slade  will  take  them  in  their  big  boats.  Thou 
hast  not  much  !  " 

He  said  the  last  words  pitifully  as  he  looked 
with  troubled  eyes  into  the  sad,  still  face, 
bending  over  the  few  plain  household  goods. 
Truly  they  did  not  seem  many,  or  of  much 
value ;  but  they  were  Margery's  own.  They 
had  associations  no  gold  could  buy.  They 
had  been  a  part  of  her  life.  Her  husband  and 


48  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

children  had  given  them  a  kind  of  home  sanc 
tity.  She  would  not  leave  behind  even  the 
cumbrous  wooden  cradle ;  when  Nanna  came 
to  see  her,  Nanna  could  lay  her  little  ones  in  its 
comfortable  shelter. 

The  next  morning  Margery  was  early  up. 
The  rain  was  over,  but  there  was  no  sunshine  and 
the  outlook  was  as  dismal  as  her  own  thoughts. 
A  thick  mist  muffled  the  roll  of  the  surf  upon 
the  beach,  but  it  seemed  to  have  a  voice  in  it 
which  she  vainly  tried  to  understand.  Then  a 
flock  of  plover  rose  from  out  of  it,  and  with 
their  plaintive  lament  went  past  her  on  the 
wind  to  the  inland  mosses.  She  followed 
their  flight  with  a  sigh.  Even  these  winged 
creatures  knew  the  stress  of  hunger  and  the 
misery  of  bad  weather.  Their  flight  was  weary, 
their  cry  inexpressibly  sad  and  lonely. 

Paul  touched  her  and  she  turned  with  him 
into  the  house-place,  and  poured  out  the  tea 
and  ate  her  last  breakfast  with  him.  Ere  she 
began  she  looked  towards  the  stairs,  and  Paul 
answered  the  question  she  did  not  put  into 
words. 

"  No,  she  is  not  coming.     She  is  still  sick." 
The  meal  was  short  and  silent,  and  when  it 


A    WILFUL    WO  MAX.  49 

was  over  Margery  said,  quietly,  "  Go,  now,  for 
the  boats." 

So  Paul  rose  and  went  for  the  men  and  the 
boats,  and  while  he  was  away  Margery  made 
her  final  preparations.  At  the  last  she  went  to 
Christina.  The  girl  appeared  to  be  asleep  and 
her  beauty  had  never  before  been  so  evident  to 
Margery.  As  she  stood  gazing  at  her,  Christina 
opened  her  eyes. 

"  I  am  come  to  say  farewell  to  thee,  Chris 
tina." 

"  Where  art  thou  going?" 

"  To  Voe  Ness  ;  to  be  near  to  my  daughter 
Nanna." 

"  I  think  thou  art  doing  right  now.  It  had 
been  well  for  me  if  thou  had  gone  long  ere 
this." 

"  That  is  a  thing  by  itself.  We  will  not 
enter  into  any  talk  about  it.  Let  me  kiss  thee ; 
and,  I  pray  thee,  be  good  and  kind  to  Paul,  for 
he  loves  thee  with  all  his  soul." 

"  Trouble  not  thyself  about  Paul.  When  we 
are  left  to  ourselves  we  shall  do  as  well  as 
other  people,  no  doubt." 

"  Well,  then,  good-bye,  Christina  !  I  have 
washed  the  breakfast  dishes  and  the  fire  is 


50  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA, 

burning  well  and  the  soup  for  the  dinner  sim 
mers  beside  it." 

She  stooped  slightly  and  looked  earnestly 
and  kindly  into  the  pretty,  rosy  face  upon  the 
pillow.  She  hoped  that  Christina  would  lift  it 
and  give  her  the  kiss  of  reconciliation  and  good 
will  which  she  asked ;  but  the  wilful  woman 
closed  her  eyes  again  and  with  a  sleepy  yawn, 
said  only,  "  Well  then,  good-by,  Margery 
Thorsen.  And  have  thou  no  fear  about  Paul, 
I  s-hall  manage  him  now  very  well." 

In  another  hour  Christina  was  alone  in  her 
house  and  her  authority.  The  last  of  Margery's 
belongings  had  been  removed  and  she  had 
watched  the  old  woman  walk  away  by  Paul's 
side  and  take  her  place  in  Sinfather's  boat.  As 
soon  as  the  boats  had  put  out  from  the  little 
jetty  to  the  open  sea  she  began  to  dress  her 
self.  She  had  made  up  her  mind  to  forgive 
Paul  when  he  came  back  and  to  have  ready  for 
him  such  a  pleasant  house  and  such  a  good 
meal  that  he  would  understand  at  once  Mar 
gery,  and  not  herself,had  been  to  blame  for  the 
discomfort  and  unhappiness  of  the  past. 

And  there  were  many  excuses  for  Paul  if  he 
did  not  see  beyond  the  things  which  Christina 


A  WILFUL  WOMAN.  51 

made  so  agreeable  to  him.  When  he  returned 
at  nightfall,  wet  and  weary,  he  found  her  wait 
ing  with  eyes  full  of  tears  and  heard  her  mur 
mur  between  tender  kisses,  her  regrets  and  her 
promises.  He  looked  at  the  lovely  woman  and 
the  bright  hearth  and  the  comfortable  meal 
and  remembered,  that  Christina,  for  weal  or 
woe,  was  a  part  of  his  own  life ;  and  it  was  not 
only  in  the  way  of  affection  but  also  of  pru 
dence  to  make  the  best  of  his  fate. 

So  the  wretched  day  had  a  happy  evening : 
Christina  was  full  of  new  plans  and  hopes.  She 
really  now  meant  to  make  her  husband  happy ; 
and  Paul  was  delighted  with  the  future  which 
she  pictured.  He  believed  everything.  He 
hoped  everything.  He  trusted  in  her  again, 
with  all  his  great,  honest  soul. 


CHAPTER  iv. 

THE   MINISTER  SPEAKS. 

But  there's  a  Fate  in  Kindness, 
Still  to  be  least  returned  where  most  is  given. 

The  Book  of  Life  is  one  in  which  every  one  looks  for  the 
same  page— the  page  of  happiness. 

Where  sits  our  sulky,  sullen  dame, 
Nursing  her  wrath  to  keep  it  warm, 

SO  Christina  got  rid  of  Margery,  and  for  a 
week  or  two  she  was  sure  that  she  was  far 
happier  without  her.     But  gradually,  day  after 
day,  Margery's  worth  in  household  matters  was 
forced   upon  her.     She  hated  work,  and  she 
soon  found  that  she  had  many  more  little  things 
to  do  about  the  kitchen  and  table— or  to  leave 
undone;  little  things  which    she    had    never 
thought    about    when    they     were     regularly 
attended  to,  but  which  when  neglected  made 
a   great    difference    in    Paul's    and    her  own 
comfort. 
When   she  was  first   married  she  had  been 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  53 

very  proud  of  her  house,  and  rather  disposed  to 
be  over-scrupulous  about  its  care  and  arrange 
ment.  But  she  had  speedily  lost  her  interest 
in  it  after  her  first  visit  to  Isabel  Sabay.  Isa 
bel's  blue  sofa  and  china  tea-cups  made  her 
own  simpler  furniture  look  contemptible  to  her. 
Besides,  Isabel  was  always  getting  some  little 
ornament  or  other — a  pretty  vase,  or  a  foreign 
picture,  or  a  beaded  cushion — while  Paul  had 
certainly  spent  all  the  money  he  intended  to 
spend  upon  his  house.  She  expected  no  ad 
ditions,  and  could  make  no  changes,  and  her 
pretty  little  parlor  had  lost  all  favor  in  her 
sight.  Gradually  all  the  rooms,  except  the  two 
in  constant  use,  were  neglected ;  dust  settled 
upon  their  furniture,  and  an  air  of  melancholy 
pervaded  them. 

For  into  the  selfish  soil  of  her  nature  some 
veiy  evil  seed  had  been  dropped.  After  Mar 
gery  left  her  she  was  under  no  restraining  in 
fluence  during  the  greater  part  of  her  time.  She 
went  more  and  more  to  the  Sabays,  and  her 
intercourse  with  Isabel  rapidly  developed  what 
ever  was  idle  and  vain  in  her  character.  At 
Sabay's  house,  also,  she  met  very  foolish  young 
women  and  reckless  men — whose  lives  were  an 


54  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

alternation  of  hazardous  enterprise  and  waste 
ful  profusion. 

Their  gay  dress,  their  bravado,  their  gal 
lantry,  touched  Christina's  imagination.  She 
envied  Isabel  the  pleasure  of  entertaining 
them  ;  she  envied  the  presents  they  brought 
her.  Her  own  life  appeared  so  tame  and  poor 
when  she  contrasted  it  with  one  into  which 
such  stir  and  mirth  and  rich  returns  came. 

And  Isabel  had  frequently  told  her  how 
glad  her  husband  would  be  if  Paul  could  be 
brought  to  join  their  enterprises.  Indeed,  if 
Christina  had  known  it,  Isabel's  main  reason 
for  encouraging  her  visits  at  all  was  the  hope 
that  through  her  influence  Paul  might  be 
induced  to  join  Sabay  in  what  they  called 
"  the  French  trade."  For  few  men  could 
manage  a  boat  like  Paul  Thorsen.  In  any 
wind  or  sea  he  would  take  her  through 
races  and  channels  where  no  other  sailor  durst 
venture. 

But  Christina  believed  that  it  was  her  beauty 
and  her  pleasant  manner,  graceful  dancing  and 
her  skill  in  song  and  recitation  that  procured 
her  what  she  considered  the  honor  of  Isabel 
Sabay's  society.  So  Isabel  was  the  great  lady 


THE   MINISTER   SPEAKS.  55 

of  Christina's  acquaintance,  and  she  paid  her 
such  court  as  fell  within  her  ideas  and  expe 
rience  to  give.  The  friendship  was,  however,  a 
hollow  one,  but  it  suited  both  women  for 
reasons  of  their  own  to  continue  it. 

It  had  always  annoyed  Paul ;  after  his 
mother's  departure  it  began  to  anger  him. 
Frequently  he  came  home  unexpectedly  during 
the  day  and  found  his  meal  uncooked,  his  door 
closed  and  his  wife  out.  At  such  times  he  felt 
sure  she  had  been  at  Sabay's  house  although 
she  never  would  acknowledge  it.  That  was  bad 
enough ;  but  he  feared  that  very  often  when  he 
was  at  the  night-fishing  Christina  was  there 
also. 

He  thought  of  her  singing  and  dancing  in 
such  company,  or  coming -home  with  it  in  the 
small  hours  of  the  morning  and  a  passion  he 
felt  it  difficult  to  control  rose  in  his  heart.  His 
mother's  presence  had  been  a  protection  to  her 
and  a  shield  for  her  fair  name  ;  but  he  felt  that 
it  was  now  at  the  mercy  of  all  who  chose  to 
gossip  about  her.  Such  suspicions  were  bad 
enough  to  bear,  and  yet  he  feared  to  take  any 
step  to  dispel  his  doubts  lest  he  should  verify 
them  instead. 


5<5  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

One  afternoon  Christina  was  going  to  Isabel 
Sabay's.  There  was  a  young  girl  with  her,  and 
a  sailor  whose  bold  swarthy  face  was  set  off  by 
a  fierce  moustache  and  ringlets  of  black  hair. 
His  blue  broadcloth  and  red  sash,  and  the  cut 
lass  in  his  belt  put  him  far  enough  apart  from 
the  fisherman  of  the  Islands.  It  was  Hal  Kui- 
per,  one  of  the  most  successful  smugglers  of 
the  time.  Always  he  was  known  to  leave  Hol 
land  with  rich  cargoes,  but  there  were  very  few 
men  who  ever  saw  the  landing  of  them.  He 
was  continually  in  danger,  and  yet  so  fortunate 
in  escaping  that  his  craft  had  been  popularly 
named  the  Luck  Penny.  She  lay  that  afternoon 
with  an  innocent-looking  ostentation  in  the 
harbor,  her  raking  masts  and  sternpost,  her 
high  bilge  and  sharp  bottom  setting  her  dis 
tinctively  apart  from  the  surrounding  fishing 
boats. 

"  Isn't  she  a  darling  ? "  he  said,  proudly. 
"  Girls,  she's  lived  through  seas  that  have  foun 
dered  a  whole  fishing  fleet — seas  that  ran  over 
her  as  if  she  wasn't  there — and  there's  some 
pleasure  in  bringing  a  boat  through  a  bad  quar 
ter  like  that." 

Christina  looked  admiringly  at  the  bold  reck- 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  57 

less  fellow,  and  he  was  well  inclined  to  increase 
her  admiration. 

"  It  was  '  touch  and  go,'  on  this  last  trip,  I 
can  tell  you  that.  I  thought  the  cutter  had  us, 
but  our  Luck  was  a  bit  beyond  them.  In  the 
very  nick  of  time,  up  comes  a  fog  to  the  west 
ward  and  she  cut  into  it  as  clean  as  if  she  had 
been  a  knife.  I  knew  my  whereabouts,  but  the 
cutter  durst  not  follow  and  that  night  we  stole 
away  into  a  sure  place,  and  I  landed  every 
pinch  of  her  cargo." 

They  all  laughed  noisily  at  Hal's  success  and 
Christina  with  a  foolish  vanity  glanced  proudly 
at  the  women  she  met ;  for  she  fancied  they 
must  all  be  envying  her  attractions  and  her 
company.  She  did  not  see  the  small  spare  man 
who  was  following  her  with  quick,  determined 
steps — a  man  dressed  in  black  with  a  stern  face 
and  an  air  of  great  authority. 

He  speedily  passed  the  group,  then  he  turned 
and  met  it  face  to  face.  "Christina  Thorsen," 
he  said  angrily,  "  I  have  something  now  to  say 
to  thee." 

She  turned  pale  and  looked  uneasy.  It 
was  the  minister,  a  man  with  almost  papal 
authority  in  Shetland.  Besides,  Dr.  Logic 


5§  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

was  not  one  who  spared  the  rod  in  the 
way  of  his  ministry.  He  winked  at  no  vice 
and  he  discussed  the  eternal  prospects  of  his 
people  with  a  freedom  which  made  them 
tremble. 

Christina  hesitated,  but  he  took  her  hand  and 
waving  away  her  companions  said  to  them : 
"You  two  can  go  forward.  To-day  I  have 
nothing  to  say  to  you." 

"  Well,  then,  we  are  thankful  for  that," 
answered  the  man  with  a  swaggering  laugh  ; 
"  and  thou  need  not  be  in  a  hurry,  a  long  time 
hence  will  do." 

"Yet  for  all  that,  Hal  Kuiper,  I  will  give 
thee  the  word  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  '  He 
that  getteth  riches  and  not  by  right,  shall  leave 
them  in  the  midst  of  his  days,  and  at  his  end 
shall  be  a  fool.'  " 

Then  he  turned  Christina  round  toward  her 
home.  "  Much  trouble  hast  thou  given  lately 
to  three  hearts  better  than  thy  own.  It  is  quite 
time  for  thee  to  repent." 

"  No  wrong  have  I  done,  sir." 

"  I  tell  thee  plainly  thou  art  wronging  thy 
good  husband,  and  wronging  thy  good  mother, 
and  wronging  Margery  Thorsen  every  hour  of 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  59 

thy  idle,  sinful  life.  I  wonder  at  Paul's  patience 
with  thee !  Thou  dost  not  deserve  it.  Now 
then,  listen  to  what  I  say ;  stay  at  thy  house, 
spin  thy  wool  and  do  thy  work  and  thy  knit 
ting  as  all  good  women  in  thy  station  do. 
Humble  thyself  to  thy  husband,  confess  to  him 
all  thy  faults  and  ask  his  forgiveness  with  all 
thy  heart.  Bring  back  the  good  woman  thou 
hast  driven  from  her  son's  hearthstone,  and  go 
thou  and  comfort  thy  poor  old  mother,  whom, 
like  a  cruel  daughter,  thou  hast  altogether 
neglected.  Dost  thou  hear  me  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Well  then,  when  thou  hast  done  these 
things  and  they  have  forgiven  thee,  then  come 
thou  to  me,  and  I  will  pray  with  thee  to  thy 
God.  Dost  thou  hear  me?" 

"Yes." 

"  Listen  then.  If  thou  dost  them  not, 
then  I  will  certainly  refuse  to  let  thee  come 
to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  at  the  May  occa 
sion." 

"And  all  this  is  because  I  go  to  see  Isabel 
Sabay  !  Cannot  a  young  woman  have  a  little 
pleasure  with  her  friends?" 

"  What  is  it  thou  calls  pleasure  ;  dangling 


60  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

with  such  men  as  Hal  Kuiper  ? — men  who 
break  the  law  and  serve  the  devil  for  a  few 
sovereigns.  I  am  ashamed  of  thee,  Christina 
Thorsen." 

"  I  have  done  no  wrong.  I  will  say  that. 
Yes,  I  will." 

"  Last  night,  when  it  was  a  long  while  after 
eleven  o'clock,  I  was  returning  from  John 
Valzain's  death-bed.  Where  was  thy  husband 
then?" 

Christina  tapped  the  ground  with  her  foot 
and  looked  over  the  sea,  but  she  did  not  answer 
the  question. 

"Where  was  thy  husband?  We  will  stand 
here  until  thou  tell  me." 

"Well  then,  he  was  at  the  ling  fishing.  That 
is  his  business.  Can  I  help  it  ?" 

"And  I  saw  thee — yes,  I  saw  thee  plainly 
through  Mistress  Sabay's  window  dancing  with 
this  Hal  Kuiper — devoting  the  limbs  which 
God  made  for  thee  to  the  service  of  Satan. 
And  Paul,  thy  husband,  was  at  the  same 
moment  between  life  and  death  on  the  rough 
sea.  Think  shame  of  thyself !  Besides  which 
is  it  fit  that  Paul  Thorsen's  wife  should  make 
merry  with  thieves?" 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  61 

"  They  are  not  thieves !  It  is  well  that  Sabay 
and  Kuiper,  hear  thee  not !  " 

"  Oh,  indeed,  I  will  say  it  to  their  faces !  The 
men  that  can  rob  their  country  would  steal  out 
of  the  Lord's  bag  if  they  got  a  chance.  Why 
land  they  their  cargoes  in  the  night?  Dark 
ness  is  the  lock  of  God  and  they  do  not  fear 
to  pick  it.  They  are  bad  men.  I  forbid  thee 
to  go  among  them,  and  I  have  told  thee  what 
to  do.  See  thou  do  it !  " 

Then  he  left  her.  But  in  a  moment  he 
returned  and  took  her  by  the  hand.  His  stern 
face  had  relaxed ;  the  compassion  of  heaven 
was  in  it. 

"  My  daughter,"  he  pleaded  ;  "  do  the  thing 
that  is  right,  then  God  and  all  good  men  and 
women  will  love  thee.  Surely  that  is  better 
than  the  laughter  of  fools." 

She  answered  him  not  for  her  heart  was  hot 
with  anger.  "This  is  Paul's  doing,"  she 
thought.  "  He  has  been  to  the  manse  com 
plaining  about  me.  Very  well,  I  shall  now 
give  him  something  to  complain  about.  Yes, 
I  will  that." 

She  took  off  her  bonnet  and  sat  down  in  the 
empty  houseplace.  In  spite  of  the  spring  sun- 


62  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

shine  outside  it  had  a  dreary  look.  The  peats 
were  dull,  the  hearth  full  of  dead  ashes ;  there 
was  that  general  air  of  discomfort  and  untidi 
ness  about  the  room  indicating  the  slovenly 
housewife  who  hates  her  work. 

Christina  thought  of  none  of  these  things 
for  the  minister's  words  troubled  her  very 
much.  The  threat  he  had  made  was  no  light 
one.  It  was  a  punishment  as  severe  socially 
as  it  was  religiously,  and  she  trembled  when 
she  considered  what  its  results  would  be.  But 
nothing  like  penitence  was  in  her  heart— only 
a  sullen,  rebellious  passion  at  all  the  circum 
stances  of  her  life. 

"It  is  either  my  mother  or  Paul  that  has 
been  talking  against  me."  That  was  the 
decision  at  which  she  arrived,  and  as  there  was 
still  an  hour  of  daylight  she  determined  to  see 
her  mother  before  Paul's  return.  She  was  well 
aware  in  her  own  heart  that  she  deserved 
reproaches,  but  the  thought  did  not  humble 
her. 

"A  young  woman  who  has  a  husband  and  a 
house  has  much  to  do.  I  shall  tell  my  mother 
that.  It  was  her  will  that  I  married  Paul. 
Well  then,  it  is  not  in  two  places  I  can  be  at 


THE   MINISTER   SPEAKS.  63 

the  same  time.  And  it  is  far  less  yet,  I  shall 
go  to  my  mother's  if  I  find  that  she  has  said 
either  good  or  bad  of  me  to  the  minister." 

With  such  thoughts  she  fed  the  angry  storm 
within  her,  until  she  reached  Helga  Bork's 
cottage.  The  old  woman  had  not  seen  her 
daughter's  approach  for  she  sat  within  the  house 
busy  with  her  knitting.  There  were  people 
who  remembered  Helga  when  she  had  been 
even  fairer  than  Christina ;  but  a  hard  life  of 
exposure,  and  a  hard  experience  of  want  and 
sorrow  had  robbed  her  of  even  that  shadow  of 
beauty  which  ought  to  linger  in  old  age. 

Yet  her  face,  though  weather-beaten  and 
strongly  lined,  was  calm  and  still,  and  her  large 
blue  eyes  had  in  them  the  serenity  of  a  soul 
which  has  accepted  and  accomplished  sacrifice 
and  suffering.  Her  dress  was  of  the  humblest 
material :  a  petticoat  and  josey  of  homespun 
cloth,  a  tartan  kerchief  pinned  across  her  breast, 
and  a  whitejinen  cap  with  large  fluted  borders. 
She  lifted  her  head  as  Christina  crossed  the 
threshold  and  said,  cheerily,  "  Well,  then !  This 
is  a  great  pleasure.  I  looked  not  to  see  thee, 
my  Christina." 

"  That  is  so.     I  have  heard  thou  hast  been 


04  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

complaining  of  me  to  the  minister.  A  mother 
might  stand  up  for  her  own  daughter,  but  thou 
wert  always  hard  with  me.  A  great  shame 
thou  hast  brought  on  me.  I  think — thou  —art 
a — cruel  mother  !  " 

She  had  wrought  herself  to  a  burst  of  pas 
sionate  weeping,  and  Helga  let  her  knitting  fall 
and  looked  at  her  in  amazement.  "  What  art 
thou  saying  ?  Whenever  was  I  hard  and  cruel 
tothee?  And  how  have  I  shamed  thee?  Too 
kind  and  forbearing  I  have  been  !  " 

"What  did  thou  tell  the  minister  about 
me?" 

"  I  spoke  not  to  him  of  thee  at  all.  Did  he 
say  that  I  did?  I  will  go  with  thee  to  his 
house." 

"  No,  no  !  I  meant  not  that.  But  this  is  what 
happened :  he  insulted  me  on  the  open  street 
about  thee." 

"  I  understand  it  not.     What  said  he  ?  " 

"  That  I  had  altogether  neglected  thee — as  if 
a  girl  can  be  daughter  and  wife  also  ?  " 

"  I  think  that  the  minister  was  right.  Thou 
hast  certainly  altogether  neglected  and  forgot 
ten  me.  But  I  have  never  said  the  words  only 
at  this  moment  to  thy  face,"  Helga  had  re- 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  65 

sumed  her  knitting,  and  she  spoke  very  calmly 
and  resolutely. 

"  How  can  I  come  here  and  mind  also  my 

own  house  ?  " 

"Thou  art  often  at  Isabel  Sabay's." 
"  Isabel  is  my  friend.     We  have  been  friends 
since  we  were  little  children." 

"I  am  thy  mother.  I  carried  thee  in  my 
arms  when  thou  knew  neither  thy  right  hand 
nor  thy  left.  Is  a  mother's  love  to  be  forgotten 
when  thou  hast  a  husband  ?  " 

"  There  are  men  who  think  that." 
"But    Paul    Thorsen   is   not   among    them. 
Always  he  walks  round  by  my  cottage  with  the 
fresh  fish  I  had  wanted  often  but  that  he  re 
membered  me." 

"  Paul  might  have  told  me  that ;  then  I  could 
have  said  so  to  the  minister." 

"  There  are  some  things  even  the  minister 
should  not  meddle  in.  I  have  complained  not ; 
I  wish  then  that  he  had  not  complained  for  me.  I 
would  not  have  thee  shamed  in  the  open  street 
for  my  neglect.  As  for  me  I  have  forgiven  it. 
I  will  speak  to  the  minister  that  he  press  thee 
not  in  this  matter.  A  mother  wants  not  a 
forced  service." 


66 


PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 


11  Let  the  minister  alone.  I  will  not  anger 
him  any  further.  What  dost  thou  think  he 
said  ?  If  I  give  not  up  Isabel  he  will  not  let 
me  go  to  the  table." 

"  I  think  thou  should  give  up  Isabel.  As  all 
the  town  knows  she  has  much  company  that 
is  not  good  company  for  a  young  wife.  Paul 
would  be  glad  if  thou  kept  in  thy  own  house." 
"  That  is  most  likely,  but  Paul  is  not  all  the 
world,  I  think." 

"I  heard  that  thou  had  forced  Margery 
Thorsen  to  go  to  her  daughter.  Many  hard 
words  have  been  said  about  that  affair." 

"Oh,  indeed!  I  forced  her  not  away.  She 
went  of  her  own  ill-will.  But  I  am  right  glad 
she  went.  I  think  that  she  made  much  trouble 
between  Paul  and  me.  Say  that  for  me." 

"  I  will  tell  thee  what,  Christina.  Many  are 
looking  to  see  thee  make  a  false  step.  Disap 
point  them  all.  Stay  at  home  and  comfort  thy 
husband  and  give  up  those  bad  friends  who 
will  be  sure  to  lead  thee  into  sin  and  trouble. 
Only  the  good  are  happy.  This  is  the  truth, 
my  child." 

"Every  one  is  against  Isabel  and  Jeppe 
Sabay ;  but  they  are  very  kind  to  me." 


THE  MINISTER   SPEAKS.  $7 

"  They  are  not  kind  to  thee.  They  are  the 
worst  enemies  thou  hast ;  and,  as  every  one 
knows,  Hal  Kuiper  has  taken  the  devil's 
trade  out  of  his  hand  for  awhile." 

"  I  see  no  harm  in  Hal.  He  has  a  good 
heart,  and  a  merry  one.  As  for  the  smuggling, 
what  then?  Hal  and  Jeppe  only  do  openly 
what  many  others  do  slyly  behind  the  minister's 
back." 

"  Yet  for  all  that,  the  wrong-doers  will  get 
into  trouble.  I  am  an  old  woman,  Christina, 
but  I  never  saw  anything  but  shame  and  punish 
ment  come  from  the  breaking  of  the  Ten  Com 
mandments." 

Then  Christina  rose  and  Helga  followed  her 
to  the  door,  and  as  she  drew  the  hood  of  her 
blue  flannel  cloak  over  her  child's  fair  hair  she 
kissed  her  tenderly  and  said,  "  My  Christina, 
may  God's  love  be  about  thee!  And  look 
into  thy  own  heart,  dear  child— for  mind  this ! 
'tis  not  the  sea  that  sinks  the  leaking  boat,  the 
leak  invites  the  sea." 


CHAPTER  V. 
AT  SORROW'S  GATES. 

I  waive  the  quantum  o'  the  sin, 

The  hazard  of  concealing. 
But,  och  !  it  hardens  all  within 

And  petrifies  the  feeling  ! 
*  *  *  *  * 

To  each  his  suffering  ;  all  are  me* 

Condemned  alike  to  groan, 
The  tender  for  another's  pain, 

The  unfeeling  for  his  own.  j 

/CHRISTINA  went  home  in  an  unfavorable 
\j  temper  for  Paul's  happiness.  She  had 
quite  persuaded  herself  that  it  was  in  response 
to  some  request  of  his  that  Dr.  Logic  had  so 
pointedly  reproved  her.  A  certain  habitual 
respect  restrained  her  feelings  and  opinions 
with  regard  to  the  minister,  but  to  Paul  she 
was  determined  to  speak  veiy  plainly.  If  he 
listened  without  sympathy  to  her  complaint, 
and  did  not  resent  the  affront  as  personal  to 
himself  also,  then  she  determined  to  take  her 
life  entirely  into  her  own  hands. 


AT  SORROWS  GATES.  69 

"  And  if  Paul  like  it,  or  if  he  like  it  not,  my 
own  friends  I  will  choose,"  she  said,  with  a 
lofty  toss  of  her  head ;  "  and  Paul  shall  see 
that  I  do  not  take  matters  in  my  hands  for 
nothing." 

Her  thoughts  were  entirely  in  this  tenor  as 
she  put  on  the  kettle  and  began  to  prepare  the 
tea-table.  When  she  opened  the  cupboard 
door  she  breathed  a  strong,  subtile  odor,  and 
at  that  hour  it  seemed  to  her  a  singularly 
pleasant  and  exhilarating  one — the  odor  of 
French  brandy.  Many  times  lately  she  had 
drank  it  in  the  form  of  hot  punch  at  Isabel's ; 
and  the  way  for  the  temptation  had  been  fully 
prepared. 

She  never  resisted  it  for  a  moment.  When 
Paul  came  to  his  home  an  hour  afterwards  he 
found  her  visibly  under  its  influence.  It  had 
made  her  eyes  wickedly  bright  and  deepened 
the  rose  on  her  cheek  to  a  vivid  scarlet.  It 
had  also  rendered  her  foolishly  noisy  and  de 
fiant.  She  told  Paul  what  the  minister  had 
said,  and  she  laughed  with  a  reckless  mirth 
that  made  him  bite  his  lips  and  look  at  her 
with  a  sickening  fear  and  shame. 

Before    the  dishes  were   washed,  and    the 


7°  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

house  tidied,  sleep  overcame  her.  With  the 
towel  in  her  hand,  she  threw  herself  into  a  large 
chair,  in  the  stupor  of  alcoholic  excess.  Then 
Paul  stood  up  and  looked  at  his  fallen  idol. 
Love  touched  him  with  a  wise  and  prescient 
sadness.  He  saw  afar  off  the  fate  waiting  for 
him.  Great  tears  filled  his  eyes ;  he  clasped 
and  unclapsed  his  strong  hands  in  a  pitiful 
restlessness.  Very  soon  he  locked  the  door, 
closed  the  wooden  shutters,  and  sat  down  in 
the  dull  red  glow  of  the  peats,  to  commune 
with  his  own  heart. 

For  an  hour  there  was  not  a  movement  in 
the  room,  and  not  a  sound  but  Christina's 
heavy  breathing.  Then  he  uncovered  his  face, 
stood  up  and  lit  a  candle.  The  first  thing  he 
did  was  to  open  the  door,  pour  the  liquid 
demon  upon  the  ground,  and  fling  the  bottle  to 
the  shingle  below  him.  Then  he  placed  his 
wife  in  a  more  comfortable  position,  and  care 
fully  folded  his  plaid  about  her. 

He  had  faced  his  trouble,  and  determined  by 
God's  help  to  conquer  it.  "  Perhaps  he  had 
been  appointed  for  the  salvation  of  Christina, 
and  for  that  very  reason  God  had  given  her  to 
him  for  a  wife."  The  moment  this  thought 


AT  SORROW'S  GATES.  7 1 

entered  his  heart  he  determined  to  be  a  willing 
and  faithful  minister,  and  to  work  with  God 
cheerfully  for  that  end. 

He  knew  the  boats  were  waiting  for  him,  but 
he  would  not  leave  Christina  alone,  and  he 
would  not  call  in  even  her  own  mother  to  see 
her  in  that  shameful  hour.  About  midnight 
one  of  his  mates  came  to  tell  him  that  the  tide 
served. 

"  I  cannot  leave  my  wife  to-night,"  Paul 
answered  ;  "  she  is  in  a  bad  way." 

"  And  very  sick  she  must  be,"  said  the  man 
to  his  companions,  "  for  no  one  ever  saw  Paul 
Thorsen  before  with  a  face  so  white  and  troub 
led.  He  looked  as  though  he  had  seen  death. 
Indeed  he  did  !  " 

In  the  chill  of  the  earliest  dawn  Christina 
awoke.  She  was  sick  and  dazed,  and  had  a 
beating  headache.  As  soon  as  she  moved  Paul 
rose  and  gave  her  a  cup  of  the  tea  he  had  ready 
for  her. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Paul?"  she  asked; 
"  have  I  been  ill  ?  " 

Paul  had  determined  not  to  parley  with  the 
sin,  and  not  to  excuse  a  tittle  of  its  shame  to 
her.  Still,  hard  as  the  words  were  he  said  them 


72  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

gently  and  sadly :  "  Thou  hast  not  been  sick,  my 
wife,  thou  hast  been  drunk.  I  stayed  from  the 
fishing  to  care  for  thee.  I  did  not  wish  even 
thy  mother  to  see  thee  so." 

"  Drunk  !  "  she  said  the  word  with  a  forced 
indifference,  and  then  laughed.  "Well,  that  is 
the  minister's  fault.  Now  then,  thou  wilt  have 
something  more  to  tell  of  me." 

"  Dost  thou  think  that  I  would  talk  to  him, 
or  to  any  other  man,  about  thy  faults  ?  Little 
thou  knows  me  !  " 

She  glanced  furtively  up  at  her  husband. 
He  stood  on  the  hearth  with  dropped  eyes, 
and  a  very  sorrowful  face.  Her  heart  smote 
her.  At  that  moment  she  felt  a  real  shame  for 
her  sin.  She  went  to  his  side,  and  said, 
"  Paul,  I  am  sorry.  I  will  do  that  thing  no 
more !" 

Then  he  took  her  to  his  heart  and  kissed  her. 
He  told  her  how  he  had  poured  out  the  brandy 
upon  the  ground.  He  said  solemnly  to  her, 
"  For  thy  sake,  dear  wife,  I  will  never  taste  it 
again.  So  then,  it  shall  not  come  into  our 
home  and  be  a  temptation  to  thee." 

She  was  weeping  softly  with  her  head  against 
his  breast,  and  Paul  felt  keenly  the  shame,  of  her 


AT  SORROW'S  GATES.  73 

shame  and  without  making  light  of  the  offence 
he  strove  to  comfort  her  in  her  repentance. 

As  he  went  down  to  the  boats  that  morning 
many  thoughts  troubled  him.  He  began  to 
wonder  in  what  direction  Christina's  danger 
lay,  and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  she 
was  too  much  alone.  "  She  gets  weary  in  her 
solitude,  and  then  there  comes  the  thought  of 
Isabel  and  the  gay  company  at  her  house.  A 
young  woman  wants  some  one  to  talk  to.  My 
mother  pleased  her  not ;  but  perhaps  then,  her 
own  mother  may  get  closer  to  her  heart." 

So  he  mused  as  he  turned  into  the  road  which 
led  to  Helga  Bork's.  He  had  a  great  respect 
for  Helga.  He  was  familiar  with  her  sorrows, 
her  faith  and  patience  and  industrious  poverty  ; 
and  it  had  often  been  his  thought  that  the 
child  of  so  good  a  mother  must  inherit  her  vir 
tues  ;  and  sooner  or  later  make  her  own  and  his 
life  sweet  with  them. 

As  he  neared  the  cottage  he  saw  the  old 
woman  on  the  shingle.  She  had  set  her  creel 
down  among  the  brown  tangle,  and  she  stood 
looking  over  the  bleak,  green  surges.  It  was 
a  good  place  to  talk,  and  Paul  went  to  her.  She 
heard  his  footsteps  and  turned  round,  and  when 


74  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

she  saw  it  was  Paul  a  pleasant  smile  flitted  over 
her  strong,  sad  face,  but  it  was  immediately 
followed  by  a  look  of  anxiety. 

"  Thou  hast  not  come  here  for  nothing,  Paul. 
What  then  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  It  is  Christina.  I  am  in  trouble  about  her, 
and  I  thought  of  thee  first  of  all." 

"  Many  good  gifts  I  have  had  from  thee. 
Now  lean  upon  me  in  thy  sorrow  as  much  as 
thou  can.  Has  Christina  been  unkind  to 
thee?" 

"  So  unkind  she  has  been  to  herself,  mother ! 
What  I  have  to  say  is  this,  and  I  say  it  out — 
last  night  Christina  was  drunk  with  brandy." 

Helga  took  the  blow  with  a  pathetic  patience. 
Except  in  the  tightening  of  her  lips  and  the 
quivering  of  her  eyelids,  she  made  no  sign  of 
the  suffering  which  Paul's  words  caused  her. 
And  though  her  heart  turned  sick,  yet  in  the 
few  moments'  silence  which  followed  the  infor 
mation  she  resolutely  summoned  her  soul  to 
face  its  unlooked-for  trial.  She  had  long  been 
used  to  look  out  unflinchingly  at  the  worst  of 
life,  but  for  this  last  terror  she  was  not  pre 
pared.  Yet  it  was  characteristic  of  her  that 
she  neither  blinked  its  reality,  nor  offered  Paul 


AT  SORROWS  GATES.  75 

consolations  which  he  must  have  felt  to  be  out 
side  of  all  real  help. 

"  Every  house  has  its  cross,  my  son.  Thine 
is  a  bitter  and  a  shameful  one.  Yet  I  blame 
thee  in  some  part.  At  the  very  first  thou 
should  have  put  thyself  between  her  and  Isabel 
Sabay." 

"  When  the  time  for  a  thing  has  gone  by, 
then  to  talk  of  it  is  useless.  The  steps  upon  a 
wrong  way  are  neither  seen  nor  heard  till  the 
turning-back  place  is  gone  by.  And  to  be  sure 
I  might  also  say,  '  Why  did  not  thou  put  thy-, 
self  between  Christina  and  Isabel  Sabay?' ' 

"  Well,  then,  there  have  been  reasons.  Before 
her  marriage  Christina  went  not  among  strange 
people ;  and  after  it,  both  thee  and  Christina 
had  perhaps  been  vexed  had  I  said  this  or  that 
about  her.  A  mother's  heart  is  a  nest  of  fear 
ful  love.  She  is  not  sure  which  is  the  right  way 
and  the  right  word  when  her  daughter  is  mar 
ried.  But  now,  Paul,  I  will  put  every  doubt  be 
hind  my  back  and  I  will  work  with  thee  heart 
and  hand  in  this  matter.  Only,  mind  what  I 
say !  Christina's  soul  is  a  little  soul.  It  will 
listen  only  to  what  begins  and  ends  in  itself. 
At  a  weak  rope  one  must  pull  gently." 


76  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"  That  is  also  my  own  thought.  And  to  be 
hard  on  Christina  is  not  in  my  heart.  When 
did  thou  see  her  last,  mother?  " 

"Alas!  then  I  have  seen  little  of  her  since 
she  was  married  !  My  poor  clothing  and  my 
heavy  toil  have  been  a  shame  to  her ;  and  be 
cause  I  would  not  have  the  hard  thoughts  come 
to  hard  words  I  have  stayed  away  from  thy 
house.  And  she  came  not  to  my  house.  Also, 
while  thy  mother  was  with  her  I  thought, 
'surely  Christina  has  a  friend  and  a  coun 
sellor.'  " 

"  My  mother  has  gone  away  to  Voe  Ness." 

"  That  I  heard  also  and  my  heart  was  angry 
at  Christina,  and  I  said  to  it,  '  Keep  still !  We 
will  not  meddle  in  this  affair.  Only  bad  words 
can  come  to  us  if  we  do.'  But  I  was  sorry  for 
Margery  Thorsen  and  I  gave  her  no  blame  at 
all.  For  when  Christina  heeds  not  her  own 
mother  it  was  likely  enough  that  she  would  be 
disobedient  to  thy  mother." 

"  But  now  thou  must  go  to  thy  child.  At 
the  end  of  all  talk  a  mother's  words  will  find  a 
road.  Is  not  God's  pleasure  in  a  mother's 
pleasure  ?  And  God's  displeasure  in  a  mother's 
displeasure?  Yes,  indeed J" 


AT  SORROW'S  GATES.  77 

"  I  will  go.  But  I  will  think  about  it  a  little 
while.  To  make  haste,  thou  knowest,  even  in 
a  good  work  is  to  please  the  devil." 

"And  thou  wilt  say  no  hard  word?  Go  not 
as  if  thou  knew  of  my  sorrow." 

"  Wise  and  kind  I  will  be.  I  will  utter  no 
reproach ;  be  sure  of  that.  Why  should  I  ?  For 
none  of  us  shall  enter  heaven  unless  God  cover 
us  with  His  mercy." 

Then  Paul  went  away ;  walking  slowly  and 
treading  heavily  over  the  sand  shingle.  He 
had  gone  to  Helga  to  secure  her  assistance  in 
his  trial,  but  he  did  not  mistrust  God's  help. 
And  he  possessed  also  that  strong,  tender  soul, 
which  is  in  itself  "  a  thing  that  all  things 
serves."  Even  in  the  midst  of  his  sorrowful 
anxiety  he  could  not  be  selfish ;  for  as  he 
passed  God's  bleak  acre  on  the  lonely  hill-side, 
he  leaned  a  moment  on  the  low  stone  wall, 
lifted  his  cap  and  looked  at  the  dead  men's 
graves. 

The  sea  thundered  on  the  rocks  below  and 
the  spindrift  from  the  billows  drenched  the 
little  tufts  and  knots  of  harsh  grass  which 
covered  them :  "  Peace  be  to  you,  my  comrades 
in  the  graves !  "  he  said  softly.  "  Peace  be  to 


78  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

you,  O  people  of  the  graves !  God  knoweth  us 
every  one.  You  have  passed  on  before  and 
we  are  following  you." 

As  for  Helga,  she  watched  him  far  up  the 
beach,  though  she  was  scarcely  conscious  of 
her  gaze.  Then  she  stooped  to  her  work  and 
for  a  little  while  pursued  it  with  apparent  inter 
est  and  industry,  Suddenly,  however,  she 
abandoned  all  further  effort  and  returned 
with  hasty  steps  to  her  cottage.  She  put  the 
bar  across  the  door  and  for  some  time  wept 
bitterly. 

Nothing  on  earth  is  so  pitiful  as  this  passion 
of  sorrow  in  an  old  man  or  an  old  woman.  We 
feel  as  if  they  ought  to  have  outlived  such 
storms.  Every  tear  in  age-dimmed  eyes  is  a 
reproach  on  some  outrageous  and  unnatural 
grief.  Never  since  the  loss  of  her  husband 
and  sons  had  Helga  so  wept.  The  pains  of 
childbed,  of  babies  dying  at  her  breast;  the 
sharp  endurance  of  her  children's  wants  and 
the  forgetfulness  of  her  own ;  her  hard  labor 
and  hard  fare  and  poor  clothes,  and  all  her 
daily  shifts  and  struggles  had  at  least  been 
natural  sufferings. 

But  Christina's  cold  ingratitude,  her  shame 


AT  SORROW'S  GATES.  79 

of  her  home-spun  dress  and  common  toil,  her 
evident  dislike  to  her  presence  in  her  finer 
house,  and  the  shadow  of  the  sin  and  disgrace 
following  hard  after  her,  were  sorrows  beyond 
nature.  Neither  did  weeping  relieve  her  as 
weeping  relieves  the  young.  When  life  is  west 
ering  the  clouds  often  return  after  the  rain;  and 
when  her  passion  of  sorrow  was  over  and  a 
strange  sad  stillness  had  succeeded  it  she  was 
still  uncomforted  and  heavy-hearted. 

After  a  while  she  washed  her  face,  put  on 
her  Sabbath  dress  and  taking  some  wool  of  an 
exquisite  fineness  from  a  chest  she  went  to  see 
her  daughter. 

Christina  was  sitting  over  the  fire  pale  and 
heavy-eyed.  The  house  had  not  been  cleaned 
or  swept,  and  she  was  in  the  dress  she  had  worn 
the  previous  afternoon.  A  book  stained  and 
torn  lay  upon  her  lap.  Helga  lifted  it.  "  The 
Smuggler's  Bride  "  was  its  title. 

"  Why  wilt  thou  read  such  books  Christina  ? 
They  are  not  fit  for  a  good  woman  to  read." 

"  I  like  them  ;  then  will  I  read  them.  They 
pass  the  time.  Why  should  I  not  read  them  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  'pass  time'  without 
hurting  eternity  And  it  is  not  good  to  read 


8o  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

books  in  which  one  gets  acquainted  with  the 
devil." 

"The  days  are  so  long.  The  book  makes 
the  hours  short." 

"  I  will  tell  thee  a  good  way  to  make  the 
hours  short.  See  what  I  have  brought  thee !  " 

Then  she  showed  her  the  soft  white  wool. 

"  For  two  years  I  have  been  saving  the  best 
bits  I  found  on  the  furze,  because  it  was  in  rny 
heart  to  knit  thee  a  shawl  fine  enough  for  a 
fairy.  Now  then,  spin  thou  the  wool  for  me — 
for  thou  art  a  good  spinner — spin  it  fine  as  a 
spider's  web  if  thou  wilt,  and  in  the  winter  I 
will  knit  thee  a  shawl ;  there  shall  not  be  such  a 
shawl  in  Shetland  I  promise  thee." 

"  Thou  art  very  kind,  my  mother,  but  I  like 
not  such  shawls.  I  have  a  friend  who  is  going 
to  bring  two  shawls  of  China  crape  to  Isabel  Sa- 
bay,  and  one  of  them  is  for  me." 

"  Take  it  not  Christina  unless  Paul  pay  the 
price  of  it.  People  will  talk  ill  of  thee." 

"  Why  should  I  lose  my  shawl  for  ill 
tongues  ?  Let  them  talk. ' ' 

"  But  it  will  grieve  thy  good  husband." 

"  Speak  not  to  me  of  such  things.  It  is  the 
Sabays  thou  art  coming  to,  I  know  that.  My 


AT  SORROWS  GATES.  8 1 

friends  are  they,  and  I  will  hear  no  ill  said  of 
them."  Then  a  sudden  thought  struck  the  young 
wife  and  she  asked  sharply,  "Was  Paul  at  thy 
house  this  morning  ?  " 

"  He  was  not  at  my  house,  but  I  saw  him  on 
the  shingle  as  I  was  looking  for  bait." 

"  And  he  told  thee  to  come  here?  " 

"  He  asked  me  to  come  and  see  thee  as  often 
as  I  could.  He  thought  thou  wanted  more 
company,  and  he  hoped  thou  would  be  glad  to 
see  me.  Art  thou  ?  " 

Christina  bit  her  lips  and  remained  silent. 

"Art  thou  lonely?" 

"  Yes,  I  am  lonely,  and  it  seems  also  as  if  it 
were  a  sin  for  a  young  woman  to  have  a  few 
pleasant  friends." 

"  Is  there  aught  I  can  do  for  thee?  I  am  thy 
mother.  Better  than  my  life  I  love  thee.  Speak 
to  me  from  thy  heart." 

"  There  is  nothing.  Have  I  not  a  fine  house 
and  a  silk  kirk  dress  and  a  good  husband  ?  " 

"  Yet  thou  dost  not  look  happy.  What  then 
is  thy  trouble,  Christina?  " 

"  It  is  this,"  she  cried  passionately.  "  I  hate 
my  life ;  what  is  there  in  it  but  cooking  and 
spinning,  and  saying,  '  Dear  Paul ! ' ' 


Sz  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

''Think  of  the  things  that  are  not  in  it! 
What  if  thou  had  poverty,  and  pain,  and  scold 
ing,  and  hatred  in  it.  Many  women  would 
thank  God  for  thy  lot." 

"  Little  would  please  them.  There  are  women 
who  travel  and  see  strange  places,  and  who 
have  one  fine  thing  after  another.  This  sum 
mer  Isabel  Sabay  is  going  with  her  husband  to 
Rotterdam  and  Amsterdam,  and  to  many  other 
towns  in  Holland..  Jeppe  Sabay  is  something 
of  a  man." 

"  He  is  not  to  be  named  with  thy  Paul.  He 
is  not  fit  to  sit  in  the  same  boat  with  him." 

"  Oh,  indeed  !  Thou  knows  nothing  at  all, 
mother.  Jeppe  Sabay  has  some  spirit  in  him ! 
As  for  Paul  Thorsen,  he  will  carry  the  nets  till 
he  die  or  drown." 

"  Christina,  my  child " 

"Talk  not  to  me.  Thou  let  me  marry  when 
I  was  far  too  young,  thou  did  that.  I  was  so 
young  I  knew  not  what  was  most  to  my  liking. 
I  had  seen  only  such  men  as  Paul,  thou  told  me 
that  the  men  who  went  to  Glumm's,  and  Hays, 
and  Sabay's,  were  bad  men  not  to  be  spoken 
to  by  any  good  woman.  And  I  believed  thee. 
So  then  I  married  Paul  Thorsen,  and  it  has  been 


AT  SOXROtV'S  GATES.  8j 

a  great  wrong  to  me,  and  the  wrong  has 
brought  misery,  and  the  misery  may  bring 
worse." 

"  Be  just  to  thy  mother,  Christina.  When 
thou  said  to  me,  '  I  will  marry  Paul  Thorsen 
and  then  I  shall  have  my  own  way  and  go  when 
and  where  I  want  to  go/  I  told  thee,  '  If  thou 
marry  for  such  a  thing  as  that  thou  wilt  bring 
misery  to  a  good  man's  home.  That  was  what  I 
said  to  thee." 

"  Well,  well !  I  see  that  nothing  will  come  of 
our  talk.  Let  us  be  quiet." 

"  Be  not  angry  at  my  words " 

"  I  am  not  angry ;  only  our  chimneys  will 
smoke  better  far  apart." 

"  It  seems  to  me  thou  art  in  a  way  full  of 
danger.  Go  thou  to  the  minister  and  he  will 
give  thee  the  best  of  advice." 

"  I  will  not  go  near  him,  and  I  will  not  listen 
to  him  if  he  come  here.  What  has  he  to  do 
with  my  life  ?  Every  stranger  who  comes  to 
Shetland  laughs  at  us  because  we  are  all  young 
and  old  under  his  hoof.  They  say  he  is  worse 
than  the  Pope  of  Rome." 

Helga  reddened  with  anger.  "Thou  shalt 
not  speak  of  God's  messenger  in  such  a  way.  It 


84  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

is  to  call  him  no  better  than  Antichrist.  I  will 
not  listen  to  thee.  Oh,  Christina !  if  thou 
would  speak  honestly  to  me  !  What  shall  I  do 
for  thee  ?  " 

"  There  is  nothing  thou  can  do  for  me.  I 
shall  find  out  my  own  way.  I  have  a  head 
ache.  We  will  not  talk  any  more  now." 

"  If  thou  art  sick  let  me  clean  up  the  house 
and  put  on  the  dinner." 

"  No ;  when  thou  art  gone  I  will  do  well 
enough." 

The  words  pained  Helga  and  she  rose  sadly 
and  went  away. 

For  a  moment  or  two  Christina  looked  after 
the  stout,  homely  figure  in  its  long  blue  flannel 
cloak  and  white  linen  cap,  and  she  thought,  "  I 
wonder  how  I  ever  came  to  be  her  child.  John 
Vandam  says  I  am  a  cuckoo  in  a  titlark's 
nest." 

Then  she  listlessly  tidied  up  her  house  ;  but 
she  pitied  herself  all  the  while  for  the  mistake 
Providence  had  made  concerning  her  birth, 
quite  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  she  was  of 
all  her  mother's  children  the  least  worthy  of 
the  nest. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"FOLDED   CLOSE  THE  SHADOWS  ARE." 

In  struggling  with  misfortune, 
Lies  the  true  proof  of  virtue. 

Love,  anguish,  wrath,  and  grief  to  madness  wrought, 
Despair,  and  secret  shame,  and  conscious  thought 
Of  inborn  worth. 

By  slow  degrees  his  reason  drove  away 
The  mists  of  passion  and  resumed  her  sway. 

FOR  some  days  after  this  Paul  remained 
much  with  his  wife.  He  had  business  to 
attend  to  but  he  let  it  wait,  and  though  he  was 
only  a  fisherman  no  mailed  knight  was  ever 
more  chivalrous  in  passing  by  a  wrong.  In  his 
own  way  he  comprehended  that  in  true 
marriage  there  must  be  a  tie  of  patience  as 
well  as  of  love  ;  and  that  the  acknowledgment 
and  forgiveness  of  faults  was  a  far  better  veil 
for  them  than  a  blind  admiration  refusing  to 
see  their  existence. 

And  Christina,  who  was  by  no  means  deficient 
in  intelligent  observation,  was  quite  sensible 
of  all  her  husband's  noble  consideration  for  her. 
There  were  hours  in  which  she  contrasted  him 
with  her  favorite  heroes  and  yet  deliberately 


86  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

set  him  above  them.  "  If  I  had  crossed  Dirke 
Biron,  or  Hal  Kuiper  as  1  have  crossed  Paul/' 
she  mused,  "  little  they  would  have  thought  of 
striking  me.  They  and  I  had  been  fighting 
long  ere  this.  But  Paul  is  good.  And  last 
week  when  the  storm  was  raging,  and  the  little 
Bread  Winner  was  beating  herself  to  match 
wood  on  the  Sandwich  Rock,  it  was  my  Paul 
who  put  his  hand  first  upon  the  boat  and  who 
asked,  'Who's  coming?'  But  Paul  is  brave. 
And  I  will  not  let  Isabel  say  the  first  word 
against  him  any  more  ;  I  won't  that.  For  he 
is  far  more  handsome  also  than  Jeppe  Sabay, 
who  is  black-looking,  and  who  moves  as  slowly 
as  if  he  had  lead  in  his  boots." 

Very  often  she  mused  in  this  strain,  for 
people  do  not  grow  evil  all  at  once.  And  the 
dissatisfaction  Christina  had  expressed  to  her 
mother  was  exaggerated  by  her  condition  of 
shame  and  physical  suffering,  and  it  was,  as  yet, 
only  intermittent  in  character.  In  the  main, 
Paul  and  Paul's  love  seemed  very  good  to  her, 
and  at  such  times  Paul  believed  himself  to  be 
the  happiest  of  husbands. 

One  beautiful  day  when  the  June  tides  were 
"  lipping  "  full  upon  the  beach,  the  boats  were 


"FOLDED  CLOSE   THE  SHADOWS  ARE."       87 

leaving  early  for  the  herring  ground  and 
Christina  went  down  to  the  pier  to  watch  Paul 
away.  She  fluttered  her  kerchief  as  he  sailed 
out  of  harbour  and  called  to  him  a  wish  for  a 
"  lucky  cast."  She  wore  a  short  petticoat  and 
little  josey  of  the  fisher's  wife — the  dress  he 
liked  to  see  her  in  best  of  all  others.  And  her 
fair  rosy  face  was  so  smiling,  and  her  words  so 
loving  and  chesry,  that  Paul  blessed  her  as  she 
stood  in  the  blowing  wind  and  thought  her  the 
sweetest  woman  that  God  had  ever  made. 

As  she  walked  homeward  through  the  town 
some  one  called  her.  She  stopped  and  looked 
up.  It  was  Isabel  Sabay.  Now  Christina  had 
purposely  avoided  her  house,  but  Isabel  was 
visiting  an  acquaintance  and  the  temptation, 
so  sudden  and  so  great,  was  not  one  which 
Christina  could  resist. 

"Whatever  has  there  come  between  us, 
Christina?  Here  have  been  Hal  Kuiper  and 
Dirke  Biron,and  I  know  not  who  beside,  watch 
ing  for  thee.  Yesterday  Dirke  went  by  thy 
house,  but  Paul  Thorsen  was  walking  in  the 
yard  as  sulky  as  a  watch-dog." 

"  There  is  no  one  can  say  truly  that  Paul 
Thorsen  is  sulky.  But  he  likes  not  Dirke,  and 


88  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA* 

a  man  may  show  his  mind,  I  think,  without  any 
fault-finding." 

"  I  think  so,  too.  I  know  Jeppe  Sabay  does. 
But  all  this  is  talk  to  no  purpose.  What  I 
want  to  say  is  a  thing  by  itself.  I  am  going  to 
make  thee  a  good  offer.  Jeppe  will  take  me  to 
Holland  soon — go  thou  with  me.  Ask  Paul." 

"  I  am  sure  that  Paul  will  say  '  No,  thou  must 
stay  at  home.'  " 

"  Ask  him.  Thou  can  surely  get  that  much 
out  of  him,  and  thee  still  wearing  thy  bride 
clothes." 

"  Well,  I  will  ask  him.  -  I  wish  that  he  may 
let  me  go." 

"So  many  strange  places  and  things  we 
shall  see!  'And  on  the  Dutch  shore  there  are 
dances  every  night,  and  pleasure  and  company 
all  the  day.  Thou  wilt  find  out  how  beautiful 
thou  art  there  ;  and  as  it  is  the  fishing  season, 
Paul  will  not  miss  thee  much.  And  I  have 
said  I  shall  have  little  fun  without  thee ;  for 
Sabay  will  have  this  and  that  and  the  other  to 
do,  and  I  care  not  to  walk  about  strange  places 
all  by  myself.  As  for  inoney,  that  is  not  thy 
thought.  I  will  pay  every  penny.  Thou  wilt 
go,  wilt  thou  not,  Christina  ?  " 


"FOLDED   CLOSE    THE  SHADOWS  ARE."        89 

Christina  had  caught  her  friends  enthusiasm 
by  this  time,  and  her  face  was  glowing  with 
delight.  It  was  precisely  the  thing,  which  of 
all  other  things,  she  most  desired.  She  would 
not  believe  that  Paul  could  deny  her  such  a 
great  pleasure  ;  especially  as  during  the  herring 
season  he  would  be  a  great  deal  from  home. 
She  thought  about  the  plan  all  night ;  it  took 
entire  possession  of  her;  she  rose  in  the  morn 
ing  with  a  determination  to  accomplish  the 
project,  no  matter  what  obstacles  she  had  to 
encounter. 

The  next  morning  she  was  at  the  door 
watching  for  Paul,  and  afar  off  the  happy  hus 
band  saw  her.  His  heart  was  so  light  with 
pleasure  that  he  came  towards  the  house  sing, 
ing  the  "  Casting  Song." 

Cast  the  nets  over  the  side,  cast  the  nets, 
Fling  them  far  and  wide,  fishers  brave. 

Christ  with  the  fishers  sat  side  by  side  ; 
Be  still,  O  wind  and  wave  ! 

Cast  the  nets  over  the  side,  cast  the  nets  ! 

This  is  your  portion,  fishers  brave. 
Christ  with  the  fishermen  broke  His  bread 

Be  still,  O  wind  and  wave  ! 

Cast  the  nets  over  the  side,  cast  the  nets  ! 

God  feedeth  the  fishermen  brave  ; 
Only  from  God  do  they  take  their  bread : 

Be  still,  O  wind  and  wave  ! 


90  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

Cast  the  nets  over  the  side,  cast  the  nets  ! 

Fling  them  far  and  wide,  fishers  brave  ! 
Christ  with  the  fishers  sat  side  by  side  : 

Be  still,  O  wind  and  wave. 

"  Be  still,  O  wind  and  wave  !  "  Christina 
caught  up  the  last  line  as  a  greeting,  and  their 
voices  mingled  happily  until  his  kiss  broke  the 
melody.  Her  beauty,  her  smiles,  her  little 
charming  anxieties  about  his  comfort  touched 
Paul  to  the  very  happiest  depths  of  his  nature. 
He  felt  so  proud  of  her;  so  grateful  to  her. 
He  thought  he  had  never  eaten  so  delicious  a 
breakfast. 

But  his  pleasure  was  soon  cruelly  cut  short, 
for  as  he  sat  smoking  after  it  Christina 
said  : 

"  Paul,  I  have  a  great  thing  to  tell  thee, 
Isabel  Sabay  is  going  with  her  husband  to  Hol 
land  and  she  wants  me  to  go  with  her.  She 
will  pay  all  the  money  that  is  to  pay ;  so,  then, 
it  will  cost  thee  nothing  at  all.  Now,  Paul, 
kits  me,  and  say  cheerfully  to  me  that  I  may 
go.  It  will  be  such  a  joy  to  me." 

His  heart  sank  like  lead.  He  kept  his  face 
bent  and  Christina  saw  that  every  moment  it 
grew  sterner.  At  length  he  spoke,  but  slowly 
and  as  if  each  word  cost  him  an  effort :  "  This 


"FOLDED   CLOSE    THE   SHADOWS  ARE."       91 

is  the  hardest  time  in  all  the  year  for  the  fisher 
men,  my  Christina.  Thou  knowest  that.  Who 
will  care  for  my  food  and  clothes  ?  " 

"  My  mother  will  come  here  ;  she  will  be  sure 
to  come.  She  will  do  very  well  for  thee  for' a 
few  weeks— about  five  weeks,  that  is  all." 

He  looked  steadily  then  into  her  fair,  eager 
ly-lifted  face  ;  and  his  eyes  filled  with  hot 
tears  when  he  saw  in  it  the  anxiety  to  leave 
him.  This  then,  was  the  meaning  of  all 
her  pretty  desire  to  please  and  comfort  him. 
He  felt  her  affectionate  caresses  to  be  at  that 
moment  an  insult  and  a  treachery.  The  pres 
sure  of  her  face  against  his  shoulder  hurt  him, 
and  he  said  with  a  grave  anger :  "  So  thou 
wants  to  go  with  Sabay  and  his  wife,and  Sa- 
bay's  wild  crew  to  Holland  ?  I  have  good 
knowledge  how  they  drink  and  dance,  and  live 
at  these  Dutch  ports.  Thou  would  be  in  the 
heart  and  heat  of  one  of  the  devil's  rendezvous. 
I  tell  thee  thou  shalt  not  go.  It  would  be  a 
sin  and  a  shame  to  even  hear  thee  talk  of  such 
a  thing.  Speak  no  more  of  it." 

"  Paul,  dear  Paul,  let  me  go  !  " 

"  It  is  an  invite  from  the  devil.  Thou — shalt 
— not — go  ! " 


92  PAUL  AND    CHRISTINA. 

"  Then  I  tell  thee  it  shall  be  a  bad  thing  for 
thee." 

'  Thou  cannot  frighten  me  into  sin.  A  man 
who  believes  in  God  does  not  fear  the  devil. 
He  has  only  to  do  right,  and  all  will  come  right. 
Yes,  surely  !  " 

"  Now  listen  to  me— if  I  do  wrong  it  will  be 
thy  fault." 

"  It  would  be  my  fault  if  I    sent  thee   to  a 
school  to  learn  wrong.     I  will  never  do  that." 
"  I    will    go   with    Isabel    now,  without  thy 
'Yes  '  or  thy '  No  '  in  the  matter." 

He  stood  up  and  laid  his  hands  upon  her 
shoulders. 

"  If  thou  doest  that  I  will  never  speak  to 
thee  again.  If  thou  leaves  my  house  against 
my  will,  I  tell  thee  one  thing,  never  dare  to 
come  back  to  it.  I  will  lock  my  heart,  and  my 
door  against  thee.  I  will  go  away— go  to 
where  I  shall  never  see  thy  face  any  more." 

Christina  had  seen  angry  men  often,  but 
never  such  anger  as  Paul's— cool,  stern,  mighty 
wrath,  expressing  itself  in  words,  calm  and  slow 
and  positive.  His  face  blazed,  and  his  eyes 
terrified  her.  For  a  few  moments  he  was  the 
Thor's  son  of  a  thousand  years  ago.  She 


"FOLDED  CLOSE  THE  SHADOWS  ARE:'       93 

shivered  beneath  his  grasp  and  his  look.  Then 
he  remembered  himself,  and  asked,  4<  Did  I  hurt 
thee  ?  I  meant  not  that,  my  wife  !  I  would 
hurt  myself  before  thee*" 

Christina  did  not  answer  him.  She  drew 
herself  away  from  his  hands,  and  he  could  see 
that  a  silent,  rebellious  spirit  had  taken  posses 
sion  of  her. 

This  event  was  a  trial  to  Paul,  as  amazing  as 
it  was  unexpected.  He  had  long  felt  that  his 
refusal  to  join  Sabay  in  his  ventures  of  sinful 
profit  and  risk  had  made  the  man  his  enemy ; 
and  Christina's  persistent  friendship  with  his 
family  had  been  personally  a  great  mortifica 
tion  to  him.  For  a  husband  feels  that  a  true 
wife  will  espouse  his  cause  and  make  his  likes 
and  dislikes,  in  a  great  measure,  her  own.  And 
he  could  hardly  bring  himself  to  believe  that 
Christina  was  willing  to  desert  him  during  the 
hardest  period  of  his  toil,  in  order  to  be  a  com 
panion  to  Sabay's  wife.  For  after  a  hard  night 
on  the  sea  he  expected  a  restful  home,  a  cheer 
ful  wife,  and  such  attention  to  the  creature- 
comforts  of  food,  and  sleep,  and  clothing,  as 
made  his  toil  possible  to  him. 

He  could  not  bear  to  think  that  Christina 


94  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

was  willing  to  leave  him  to  the  care  of  others, 
while  she  loitered  and  danced  her  hours  away 
with  Jeppe  and  Isabel  Sabay  and  such  wickedly- 
foolish  company  as  they  chose  to  take  her  into. 
Setting  aside  the  moral  delinquency  of  Chris 
tina's  choice,  the  personal  neglect  and  indiffer 
ence  which  it  involved  towards  himself  wounded 
and  angered  him  beyond  endurance. 

He  scarcely  knew  how  to  meet  the  circum 
stance  :  but  one  thing,  however,  he  was  sure  of 
— Christina  should  not  go!  He  told  himself 
that  it  would  be  a  sin  to  suffer  her  to  do  so. 
"  If  it  were  for  her  good,  or  even  for  her  inno 
cent  pleasure,"  he  thought,  "  I  would  put  away 
my  own  like  or  dislike,  and  I  would  be  glad 
that  the  little  one  should  be  happy."  Yes,  lie 
was  quite  sure  that  in  such  a  case  self-denial 
would  have  been  easy  to  him  ;  and  by  this  test 
he  was  equally  sure  that  when  her  pleasure 
involved  present,  and  perhaps  future  sin,  he 
was  quite  justified  in  setting  his  face  resolutely 
against  her  gratification. 

He  looked  again  and  again  at  his  silent  wife, 
listlessly  attending  to  the  household  duties, 
which  ought  to  have  been  such  a  pleasure  to 
Jier.  Ever.y  movement  she  made  was  .scorn- 


"FOLDED   CLOSE    THE  SHADOWS  ARE."       95 

fully  eloquent  of  her  profound  contempt  for, 
and  her  weariness  of,  her  humble  life.  And  so 
complex  is  the  human  soul,  that  in  the  midst 
of  his  own  wretched  outlook,  he  found  himself 
watching  curiously  the  ambitious,  dissatisfied 
woman  ;  and  thinking  in  a  drifting  way  of  the 
angels  in  heaven,  who,  through  ambition,  fell 
from  heaven  to  hell. 

"  Dissatisfied  with  their  lot,  like  Christina, 
they  were  wanting  to  be  greater  than  God  made 
them !  So !  so !  Envy,  hatred,  murmuring* 
would  follow ;  and  every  fresh  sin  would  call 
for  its  mate.  Yes,  indeed!  the  road  from 
heaven  to  hell  was  easy  enough,  even  for  the 
angels.  How  much  more  so  for  my  little  Chris 
tina?  Yet,  if  she  would  forget  herself  and  lean 
upon  the  Crucified  One,  then  all  things  would 
be  possible  to  her." 

Perhaps  the  mind  is  never  so  inclined  to 
speculation,  and  to  run  into  side  issues  of  all 
kinds,  as  when  some  great  trouble  has  oven 
whelmed  it.  Paul  had  to  keep  recalling  him, 
self  from  aimless  and  irrelevant  matters,  some  of 
them  quite  trivial  and  out  of  sympathetic  rela. 
tion  to  the  real  question  of  his  heart  and  head. 

He  grew  impatient  under  an  experience  so 


9<>  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

little  understood  by  him  ;  for  with  men  like 
PaulThorsen  it  is  not  the  brain  so  much  as  the 
heart  which  beats  and  hammers  out  the  pur 
poses  of  life  into  action.  And  as  he  saw  from 
Christina's  manner  that  she  would  not  be  rea 
soned  with,  he  bethought  himself  of  going  into 
the  town.  He  felt  that  for  him  the  endurance 
of  sorrow  was  not  all.  There  must  be  some 
thing  to  be  done. 

So  he  rose  and  lifted  his  cap.  Christina 
shrugged  her  shoulders  and  began  to  sing.  He 
could  not  have  told  what  she  was  singing,  but 
the  music  irritated  him  like  a  slap  in  the  face. 

"  Wilt  thou  be  quiet,"  he  said.  "  Thou  hast 
made  me  very  miserable;  I  care  not  to  hear 
thee  singing  over  thy  cruel  work." 

"  Well  then,  singing  is  the  only  pleasure  thou 
has  left  me;  "  and  she  looked  him  steadily  in 
the  face  as  she  lilted  gaily, 

"  I  have  lost  my  land,  I  have  lost  my  gold, 

I  never  shall  be  as  bonnie  again, 
My  friends  are  double,  my  lover  is  cold, 
But  I'm  blithe,  I'm  blithe,  that  my  heart's  my  ain  !  " 

She  had  unbound  her  fine  yellow  hair,  and 
she  sat  upon  a  little  stool,  slowly  combing  out 
its  shining  lengths.  There  was  something  so 


"FOLDED   CLOSE    THE  SHADOWS  ARE."        97 

mocking,  so  bewitching,  so  nixie-like  in  her  ap 
pearance,  that  Paul  trembled,  ^.nd  was  fasci 
nated.  For  a  moment  the  old  pagan  leaped  up 
in  his  soul.  He  could  have  lifted  her  in  his 
arms  and  yielded  to  the  enchantress  all  the 
moral  glory  of  his  manhood.  But  the  tempta 
tion  was  swift  as  thought  and  it  was  instantly 
followed  by  the  mightier  influnce  of  the  Chris 
tian  generations  more  immediately  behind  him. 
The  spirit  of  his  fathers  strengthened  him,  and 
he  was  instantly  aware  of  all  the  resisting 
power  which  centuries  of  the  grand  austerity 
and  profound  mystery  of  Calvinism  can  give  a 
man. 

Without  another  look,  without  a  word,  he 
left  her ;  though  he  felt  as  if  it  was  his  life's 
eleventh  month,  and  all  things  were  going  to 
decay  with  him — love  and  honor  and  happiness 
nearly  over.  He  went  down  to  the  pier  and 
without  making  many  direct  inquiries  he  found 
out  that  Sabay  would  sail  in  five  days.  Then 
he  walked  up  the  beach  and  hid  himself  in  a 
lonely  cave,  where  his  only  companions  were 
the  seals  and  the  blue  pigeons.  They  hardly 
minded  him.  The  pigeons  went  cooing  about 
their  affairs,  and  an  old  seal  grandmother, 


98  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

white  with  age,  lay  pensively  at  the  water-side 
watching  him.  She  was  surrounded  by  her 
children  and  grandchildren,  nursing  mothers 
and  babies,  but  after  a  look  at  Paul  she  did  not 
even  think  it  necessary  to  send  away  the  little 
ones  of  the  party.  Men  think  one  thing,  ani 
mals  another,  but  who  can  tell  how  close  to  the 
truth  animals  may  come  ?  Evidently  the  old 
seal  knew  that  Paul  was  not  that  day  dangerous. 
Indeed,  he  scarcely  noticed  her.  His  thoughts 
were  all  with  Christina,  and  as  the  still  hours 
went  by  they  gradually  became  calmer  and  ten 
derer  thoughts.  When  he  rose  to  return  home 
he  had  determined  to  put  Christina  upon  her 
honor,  and  yet  not  to  leave  her  to  destruction, 
if  her  honor  failed  her. 

He  spoke  to  her  gravely,  but  yet  kindly. 
"Christina,  thee  and  I  will  not  quarrel  for 
Sabay  and  his  wife,  I  will  tell  thee  what  shall 
be  done.  When  the  Fisherman's  Foy  is  over, 
then  I  will  take  thee  to  Orkney  to  see  my  Uncle 
Paul.  I  am  his  namesake,  and  he  likes  me  well ; 
and  he  will  like  thee  also,  I  am  sure  of  that. 
He  is  a  rich  man  and  he  has  a  fine  large  house 
in  Kirkwall.  There  is  no  finer  house  in  the 
Islands." 


"  FOLDED   CLOSE   THE   SHADO  WS  ARE."        99 

"  I  care  nothing  for  the  Orkneys,  nor  for  thy 
Uncle  Paul.  Let  me  go  with  Isabel." 

"  I  will  not !  But  perhaps,  if  I  do  well  this 
summer  I  will  take  thee  to  see  Edinburgh. 
There  are  some  fishing  boats  from  Leith  here, 
and  I  could  afford  to  bring  thee  back  by  the 
mail  packet." 

"  I  want  to  go  with  Isabel." 

"  Now  listen  to  me.  I  forbid  thee  to  go  with 
her.  I  forbid  thee  to  speak  to  her.  I  put  my 
honor  and  my  happiness  in  thy  hands.  Chris 
tina  !  Christina  !  do  not  break  my  heart !  " 

"  Whatastirthou  makes  about  nothingatall." 

"  It  is  not  nothing.  It  is  everything  to  thee 
and  to  me.  Promise  me  what  I  ask.  Wilt 
thou  not  speak  to  me  ?  Very  well,  then  I  shall 
bring  thy  mother  here  to  be  between  thee  and 
Isabel  when  I  am  away." 

"  No,  thou  shalt  not  set  a  spy  over  me.  If 
thou  wilt  force  a  promise  from  me,  take  it." 

It  was  an  ungracious  concession,  but  Paul 
was  glad  of  even  so  much,  though  he  went  to 
the  fishing  very  anxious  and  heavy-hearted. 
Without  seeming  to  watch  Sabay,  he  was  pain 
fully  on  the  alert.  But  he  perceived  nothing 
unusual  in  Christina's  manner  or  movements 


loo  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

until  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day.  Then  he 
saw  a  kind  of  furtive  and  tremulous  way  about 
her,  quite  foreign  to  her  usual  mood.  How 
ever,  he  dressed  himself  for  the  boats,  and  went 
away  at  the  proper  hour.  But  he  did  not  sail 
with  them. 

At  the  end  of  that  pier  at  which  Sabay'sship 
was  anchored,  there  was  a  shed  used  for  shel 
tering  nets  and  ropes,  and  oars,  etc.  From  this 
shed  Paul  watched  the  fishing  fleet  drift  out  into 
the  bay ;  and  then  he  noticed  a  busy  excite 
ment  on  Sabay's  craft.  Her  crew  were  evi 
dently  preparing  to  sail  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Presently  he  heard  Sabay,  who  stood  against 
the  rail,  give  orders  to  crowd  on  every  inch  of 
canvas  ;  and  no  sooner  was  this  done  than  he 
saw  Isabel  and  Christina — yes,  it  was  Christina 
— hurrying  to  the  ship. 

In  a  moment  he  stood  face  to  face  with  his 
wife.  There  were  a  number  of  people  on  the 
pier  and  he  was  anxious  above  all  things  to 
spare  her  good  name. 

"Thou  turn  back  with  me." 

He  said  the  words  in  the  same  stern,  quiet 
tone  which  had  before  terrified  her,  and  as  he 
spoke  he  grasped  her  hand  firmly. 


"FOLDED  CLOSE    THE  SHADOWS  ARE."     IOI 

"Let  her  go  with  me,  Paul  Thorsen.  No 
harm  shall  come  to  her." 

"I  will  take  care  of  that  myself,  Mistress 
Sabay.  Come,  Christina,  I  am  in  a  hurry  to 
get  home." 

"Let  her  go  with  me,  Thorsen.     I  promise 


"I  will  fling  her  into  the  sea  first,  that  I 
will;"  and  he  looked  at  the  moment  quite 
capable  of  it. 

"  Well,  thou  art  a  brute,  Paul  Thorsen  !  " 

"  Anything  is  better  than  a  bad  woman.  Go 
thy  own  way,  but  my  wife  shall  not  go  with 
thee." 

There  was  no  resisting  the  strong  will  and 
the  strong  hand  of  the  man.  Christina  durst 
not  even  weep  or  implore.  "  Keep  thy  tears 
and  thy  tongue,"  he  said,  "  until  we  are  alone. 
Would  thou  have  the  whole  town  know  that 
thou  wert  running  away  from  thy  husband  and 
thy  duty  and  thy  home  ?  " 

And  as  they  walked  together  through  the 
town  the  women  looked  curiously  at  them. 
What  was  Paul  doing  in  his  fisher's  dress  on 
the  streets  at  that  hour,  all  the  boats  being  at 
sea?  Besides  which  it  was  evident  that  some- 


102  PAUL  AND   CHRISTIKA. 

thing  unpleasant  had  happened,  and  that  they 
they  were  ill  friends.  But  none  yet  guessed 
the  anguish  of  the  strong  man's  heart. 

For  awhile  Paul  trembled  in  the  great  horror 
of  darkness  that  had  gathered  round  him.  All 
his  old,  peaceful,  profitable  life  was  broken  up; 
his  mother  banished  from  his  hearth,  shame 
and  sin  crouching  by  his  doorstep,  and  the 
misery  was  one  from  which  not  a  portion 
of  his  life  could  escape.  How  was  he  to 
bear  it  ? 

This  was  the  question  he  was  trying  to  solve, 
tvhile  Christina— lying  awake  miserable  and 
angry— heard  him  walking  the  houseplace  all 
through  the  summer  night.  But  just  at  dawn 
ing  there  came  to  him  the  word— the  only  word 
—that  in  the  great  shipwrecks  of  life  has  power 
to  save,  Love.  As  soon  as  he  comprehended 
it  he  was  strong  and  the  future  became  possible 
to  him. 

Love.  Christina  should  not  wear  out  his 
love.  It  should  be  strong  as  death  and  pitiful 
as  heaven.  As  Christ  gave  his  life  for  him,  so 
afar  off,  but  with  true  self-abnegation,  he  would 
give  his  life  to  save  the  soul  so  dear  to  his  soul. 
He  would  be  patient  to  her.  He  would  for- 


"FOLDED  CLOSE   THE  SHADOWS  ARE."     103 

give  her  seventy  times  seven  if  it  should  be 
needful. 

"  Patient !  patient !  "  he  whispered  ;  "  patient 
unto  the  very  end  of  life,  and  then?  Then  at 
the  bottom  of  patience  there  is  heaven," 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CHRISTINA  TAKES  HER  OWN  WAY. 

Could  but  the  eyes  that  grow  so  dim 

Beside  a  solitary  fire 
Look  forth  beyond  the  horizon's  rim 

And  see  the  coming  ship — Desire, 
Up  like  a  flame  the  heart  would  leap  ; 
Although  slow  hours  their  watch  must  keep. 

A  man  whose  heart  the  rainiest  moods 
Leave  softer  and  without  a  blot. 

'T^HERE  are  hours  that  make  the  heart  gray 
JL  and  leave  the  hair  untouched ;  and  min 
ute  by  minute  some  of  them  were  doled  out  to 
Paul  after  he  had  brought  Christina  back  to 
her  home.  She  had  no  sense  of  shame  about 
her  intended  sin  ;  she  was  only  conscious  of  her 
disappointment.  Sullenly  she  threw  herself 
into  a  chair,  and  there  was  an  air  of  mockery 
and  defiance  on  her  face. 

Paul  stood  at  the  window  looking  wistfully 
over  the  sea.  Far  out  on  the  horizon  the  her 
ring  fleet  was  at  anchor,  and  he  knew  the  men 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER  OWN    WAY.        105 

were  busy  casting  the  nets.  He  felt  all  the 
bitterness  of  the  shameful  tie  which  kept  him 
from  his  mates  and  his  honest  labor;  and  there 
was  a  stern  and  righteous  anger  in  his  heart. 

He  waited  long  for  Christina  to  speak.  There 
was  indeed  no  excuse  for  her  conduct  ;  but 
surely  she  would  express  some  contrition  for  it. 
Christina  had  no  such  intention.  She  had  fully 
made  up  her  mind  to  stand  by  the  position  she 
had  taken.  And  some  kind  of  instinct  advised 
her  to  let  Paul  be  the  one  to  open  any  dispute 
on  the  matter.  She  felt  without  being  able  to 
analyze  or  comprehend  the  feeling  that  it 
would  be  easier  to  stand  upon  the  defensive 
than  to  utter  reproaches  or  to  attack  Paul's 
position.  So  she  suffered  a  dumb  devil  to  take 
possession  of  her,  and  with  lowering  brows  and 
dropped  eyes  she  sat  motionless  and  indifferent. 

The  dinner  hour  passed,  the  afternoon  shad 
ows  grew  longer,  Paul  was  faint  and  hungry, 
but  Christina  remained  in  an  apparent  apathy, 
regardless  and  immovable.  At  length  the  silent 
tension  became  intolerable  and  Paul  turned 
to  her  and  said,  "  Christina,  put  on  the  kettle. 
I  want  tea,  and  some  bread  and  some  fish." 

She  was  as  one  that  heard  not.     Her  eyelids 


Io6  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

never  moved,  there  was  not  a  flicker  of  con 
sciousness  in  her  face. 

"Wilt  thou  do  as  I  wish?" 

Then  she  began  to  tap  the  floor  with  her  foot, 
and  a  blaze  of  angry  color  dyed  her  cheeks 
crimson. 

"  If  thou  wilt  not  make  my  tea  then  I  must 
send  for  thy  mother  to  do  thy  duty  for  thee." 

"As  it  pleases  thee." 

"  Christina,  for  God's  sake  have  some  pity ! 
What  have  I  done  to  deserve  thy  cruelty  and 
the  open  disgrace  thou  hast  put  upon  me?" 

"  Oh  !  indeed,  then.  It  is  I  who  have  been 
shamed  and  made  a  town's  talk  of  by  thee !  A 
kind  husband  thou  art !  It  was  an  ill  day  for 
me  when  I  married  thee.  Yes,  indeed,  it  was !  " 

"  Wilt  thou  make  my  meal  ?  " 

"  No,  I  will  not." 

"  Well,  then,  I  must  make  it  myself." 

She  let  him  do  so,  watching  with  lifted  brows 
and  mocking  smiles  his  sad,  unhandy  efforts. 
For,  though  Paul  was  like  most  sailors,  a  very 
fair  cook  on  board  a  ship,  he  was  unfamiliar 
with  household  methods  and  utensils,  and  he 
was  constantly  irritated  at  the  number  of  little 
difficulties  he  had  to  encounter. 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER  OWN    WAY.        107 

But  at  length  the  tea  was  ready,  Christina 
had  watched  her  husband  lay  her  cup  and  plate, 
and  she  had  been  debating  with  herself  whether 
she  should  share  the  meal  or  not.  Her  temper 
urged  her  to  fast,  her  appetite  ordered  her  to 
eat ;  and  in  Christina  the  animal  passion  was 
the  strongest.  Without  waiting  for  Paul's 
request  she  sat  down  at  the  table  and  helped 
herself  to  the  food  prepared.  After  watching 
her  a  moment  Paul  said,  "  The  grace  words 
have  not  been  said,  Christina  ;  but  indeed,  then, 
it  would  be  a  mockery  to  ask  God  to  bless  such 
a  meal  as  this.  I  fear  me  that  it  is  the  devil 
who  makes  the  third  with  us  this  day." 

"  I  think  that,  too." 

"  Well,  then,  be  sorry  for  the  wicked  deed 
that  it  was  in  thy  heart  to  do  and  let  us  make 
an  end  of  the  trouble." 

"  Thou  only  art  to  blame  for  it.  There  was 
no  harm  in  going  to  Holland  with  the  Sabays. 
Openly  and  in  the  sight  of  all  I  asked  thee  to 
let  me  go  and  thou  would  not.  Very  well  then, 
thou  forced  me  to  tell  thee  a  lie  and  to  put  my 
self  in  a  corner  for  fingers  to  point  at.  I  thank 
thee  not  for  such  unkindness.  Moreover,  thou 
shalt  be  very  sorry  yet  for  the  thing  thou  hast 


I08  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

done  this  day.     In  a  few  weeks  I  shall  not  be  in 
thy  debt." 

"  How  can  thou  say  such  cruel  words?  For 
thine  own  honor  for  thine  own  good,  I  stopped 
thee.  Ask  from  me  any  lawful,  innocent  pleas 
ure  and  I  will  give  thee  it;  yes,  though  I  sell 
the  house  to  find  the  means." 

"  I  have  asked  two  things  of  thee.  Both  of 
them  thou  hast  refused.  I  will  ask  no  more 
then." 

"  Thou  asked  me  to  break  the  laws,  to  put 
myself  away  from  the  love  of  God  and  the  re 
spect  of  good  men — to  run  the  danger  of  im 
prisonment  and  chains  and  exile.  What  good 
wife  would  ask  a  thing  like  that  ?  Once  more, 
thou  asked  me  to  let  thee  go  with  drunkards 
and  thieves  and  foolish  women  to  dance  and 
idle  away  thy  life  in  a  land  that  is  not  thy  home, 
and  among  men  and  women  who  are — and  who 
ought  to  be — strangers  to  thee.  Wicked  and 
cruel  I  would  have  been  to  have  let  thee  have 
thy  way  in  such  matters." 

"  I  care  not.      I  would  far  rather  be  with 
them  than  with  thee." 

He  drew  his   lips   tightly,  the  tears   sprang 
into  his  eyes  and  he  struck  the  table  with  his 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER  OWN   WAY.       109 

clenched  fist  a  blow  that  made  the  tea  cups 
shiver. 

"  Listen  to  me  !  Thou  art  my  wife.  Whether 
thou  love  me,  or  love  me  not,  I  love  thee  !  I 
love  thee  so  well  that  I  will  not  let  Jeppe  and 
Isabel  Sabay  drive  thee  to  the  devil  if  I  can  help 
it.  So  then  thou  shalt  do  my  will,  Christina.  Like 
a  wicked,  unruly  child  I  will  treat  thee  if  thou 
disobey  me  again." 

"  Thou  wilt  not  dare  to  strike  me!" 

"  I  said  not  I  would  strike  thee.  I  leave 
blows  to  such  men  as  Jeppe  Sabay  and  Peter 
Glumm.  I  would  not  strike  a  child.  But  this 
is  what  I  will  do — I  will  make  things  so  that 
when  I  am  forced  to  be  at  the  fishing  thou 
canst  not  leave  the  house  ;  and  I  will  bring  my 
mother  back  here  to  see  that  no  bad  men  or 
women  cross  the  threshold  to  keep  thee  in  ill 
company." 

"  Wilt  thou  tie  me  in  my  chair  then  ?  "  and 
she  laughed  aloud  with  a  scornful  and  defiant 
laugh. 

"Ay,  I  would  do  that  if  it  were  necessary; 
though  every  knot  would  be  a  knot  in  my  own 
heart-strings.  But  this  is  what  I  ask  of  thee — 
be  a  good  woman  and  do  thy  duty.  Say  thou 


HO  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

wilt  and  I  will  trust  thee  again !  Yes,  I  will 
trust  thee  again  with  all  my  heart.  Think  of 
this  now — our  lives  are  bound  together  Chris 
tina,  and  no  one  can  part  us.  Shall  we  not  try 
and  be  happy  ?  I  love  thee !  I  will  indeed  take 
thee  to  Orkney  and  to  Edinburgh  and  I  will 
buy  thee  a  new  dress  and  a  tartan  shawl." 

"  Since  I  could  not  go  to  the  place  I  wanted 
to  go,  I  will  not  go  to  where  thou  wants  to  go. 
Name  not  Orkney  nor  Edinburgh  to  me." 

"Well,  well,  as  for  some  company,  this  is 
what  I  say.  There  are  good  pleasant  women, 
whom  thou  used  to  like  to  be  with — Jane  Sin 
clair,  and  Brenda  Bewis,  and  Margaret  Bare 
foot,  and  many  others.  Ask  them  to  thy  house; 
and  I  will  play  the  violin  for  the  innocent 
dance,  and  thou  can  recite  and  sing.  No  one 
can  recite  and  sing  like  thee.  Dost  thou  think 
1  want  to  keep  thee  away  from  good  company  ? 
No,  indeed !  Ask  it  to  thy  house.  I  blame 
myself  that  I  thought  not  of  this  before,  but — 
and  he  looked  at  her  with  a  touching  pathos 
— "  thou  wert  all  I  wanted." 

At  these  words  she  glanced  up  at  Paul's  kind, 
yet  troubled  face  and  her  heart  reproached  her 
a  little,  though  she  answered  not  the  gracious, 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER  OWN   WAY.        in 

considerate  offer.  However,  her  silence  was 
some  gain,  and  Paul  was  still  further  gratified 
when  she  rose  and  began  to  wash  the  dishes  and 
attended  to  her  household  duties.  Not  but 
what  his  heart  troubled  him,  even  for  his  for 
bearance.  He  was  by  no  means  sure  that  he 
had  acted  wisely  in  passing  by  the  offence  so 
easily ;  and  he  knew  that  the  minister  would 
regard  his  promises  as  a  mere  bribe  to  Chris 
tina  to  do  what  was  right. 

Also  there  was  something  in  Christina's  face 
that  was  not  pleasant  or  reassuring  ;  and  had  he 
known  the  thoughts  passing  in  her  heart  he 
would  have  been  still  more  dissatisfied  with  the 
position  he  had  taken.  For  Christina  was  not 
touched  to  any  deep  purpose  by  her  husband's 
consideration  for  her.  She  was  only  afraid  of 
the  threat  he  had  made.  To  be  confined  in  her 
house  unless  she  went  out  with  Paul,  and  to 
have  Margery  Thorsen  brought  back  and  put 
in  authority  over  her,  were  two  conditions  of 
life  which  Christina  could  not  bear  to  think  of. 
Some  concession  to  Paul  was  better  ;  and  she 
was  ready  to  make  just  so  much  as  was  neces 
sary  to  prevent  him  taking  steps  so  offensive 
and  humiliating  to  her, 


112  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

Unfortunately  it  was  the  fishers'  busiest  time, 
and  Paul  could  not  neglect  the  herring  season 
for  upon  it  depended  the  comfort  of  the  whole 
year.  He  was  compelled  to  leave  his  wife  very 
much  alone,  but  he  hoped  as  the  Sabays  were 
in  Holland  she  might  form  other  and  less  ob 
jectionable  friends  in  their  abssnce.  He  took 
trouble  to  meet  Jane  Sinclair  and  Brenda  Bare 
foot  ;  and  the  women  understood  his  motives 
without  explanations,  and  went  to  call  upon 
Christina. 

They  met  with  little  courtesy,  for  if  they  had 
understood  Paul's  invitation,  Christina  under 
stood  equally  well  their  acceptance  of  it.  She 
said  little  the  first  time  Jane  Sinclair  called  ;  but 
when  the  visit  was  repeated  she  determined 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  unwelcome  intrusion. 

"  How  are  you  doing,  Christina  ?  "  said  Jane 
pleasantly,  as  she  stepped  within  the  open 
door;  "  I  was  passing,  and  I  thought,  well 
then,  I  will  give  Christina  the  news." 

"  Many  times  you  pass  my  door  lately,  Jane ; 
and  for  what  ?  It  is  not  in  your  way  at  all. 
As  for  news,  there  is  never  anything  newer 
here  than  the  day's  tides." 

"You  are  wrong  this    morning,    Christina. 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER   OWN    WAY.       113 

Here  is  pretty  Margaret  Twatt  to  be  married 
at  the  Foy  ;  and  Nanna  Tulloch,  she  too,  like 
the  rest ;  and  Mary  Nicholson  has  a  baby,  a 
pretty  wee  lass  ;  and  Mistress  Vedder  is  to  give 
a  grand  party  to  the  minister's  daughter  who  is 
home  from  the  Edinburgh  schooling.  Oh,  in 
deed  !  there  is  a  great  deal  to  talk  about." 

"  The  minister's  daughter !  I  saw  her,  a 
proud,  upsetting  girl.  She  had  on  a  white 
frock  covered  with  little  frills,  and  a  blue  sash, 
with  the  ends  down  to  the  ground  itself.  Yes  ; 
if  Christina  Thorsen  had  worn  a  frock  like  that 
the  town  had  rung  the  bell  about  it." 

"  Thou  art  not  Barbara  Logic.  What  would 
be  veiy  foolish  in  thee  is  the  right  thing  in  a 
young  girl  who  is  of  gentle  kind,  and  who  has 
money  of  her  own.  Circumstances  alter  the 
right  and  the  wrong  of  many  things.  Think  of 
that,  Christina  ! " 

"  I  know  that  every  one  is  sure  I  am  always 
in  the  wrong.  Whatever  dress  I  wear  is  not 
the  right  dress.  What  ever  road  I  take  it  is  the 
wrong  road.  Whatever  friends  I  choose  they 
are  the  friends  I  ought  not  to  have.  That  is  so 
And  I  will  tell  thee  more,  Jane  Sinclair.  I 
know  well  that  Paul  sent  thee  here.  Now, 


114  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

what  I  counsel  thee  is  this,  waste  no  more  of 
thy  time.  If  I  may  not  choose  my  own  friends, 
I  will  not  have  those  friends  whom  Paul  chooses 
for  me." 

"  Thy  heart  will  be  sea-sick  of  the  Sabays  and 
their  kind,  ere  long.  Thou  wilt  find  them  out. 
Then,  if  thou  wants  a  kind  friend,  I  will  be 
where  thy  mother  was  to  my  mother.  Put  thy 
thumb  upon  that  promise.  Keep  it  till  the  day 
thou  needst  it,  Christina." 

"And  when  Paul  Thorsen  and  thee  have 
some  more  confidences,  tell  him  that  Christina 
thinks  little  of  his  wisdom  in  sending  Jane  Sin 
clair  to  say  words  for  him." 

"  Paul  Thorsen  gave  me  no  words  to  say  for 
him.  That  is  as  sure  as  that  I  am  Jane  Sin 
clair,  a  christened  woman.  But  it  is  well  known 
that  there  is  a  shadow  on  thy  hearth  ;  a  shadow 
cast  by  those  who  are  not  worthy  to  stand 
there  ;  and  if  I  could  say  a  word  to  brighten  it, 
so  glad  I  would  be." 

"  Now,  I  wTill  tell  thee  something.  It  is  not 
the  Sabays  who  make  the  shadow  ;  it  is  Paul 
himself.  From  the  very  first  he  has  been  on 
the  wrong  side  of  my  wishes.  When  I  married 
him  I  thought  surely  he  would  join  Sabay  and 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER   OWN   WAY.       11$ 

make    me    something    better   than    a    fisher's 
wife." 

"  Think  of  this,  Christina.  Sabay's  ways  are 
full  of  sin  and  danger.  A  wife  should  think 
for  her  husband's  good  ;  and  oh !  how  Paul 
loves  thee  !  Gold  cannot  buy  such  love  as  Paul 
gives  thee." 

"  Well,  then,  gold  can  buy  a  great  many 
other  good  things — things  I  long  for  very  much 
indeed.  Did  Paul  tell  thee  I  wanted  to  go  to 
Holland?  Well  then,  I  did  want  to  go.  In 
Holland  there  is  some  life  and  some  pleasure. 
But  here,  what  is  it  ?  To-day  will  be  like  yes 
terday  and  to-morrow,  and  all  the  rest  of  to 
morrows  will  be  like  to-day." 

"  All  over  the  world  some  people  will  be  say 
ing  '  every  day  is  alike  and  I  am  tired  of  my 
life.'  They  are  the  people  who  think  life  is  to 
be  only  a  game  for  their  own  pleasure.  The 
people  who  love  nobody  but  themselves,  who 
try  to  make  no  life  happy  except  their  ov/n 
life.  Ask  the  minister  and  he  will  tell  thee 
that  even  Solomon,  with  all  his  gold  and  money, 
found  that  kind  of  life  all  weariness  and  vanity. 
To  have  duties,  to  be  busy  for  others,  that  is 
the  way  to  be  happy." 


Ii6  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  Plenty  talk  as  thou  talks.  I  believe  not 
such  words.  As  for  the  minister,  I  do  not  set 
my  clock  by  him.  No  indeed  !  " 

"  Well,  I  must  go  away  now.  Our  words 
have  not  built  a  bridge  between  us.  I  am 
sorry,  Christina.  A  good-day  to  thee." 

Christina  nodded  indifferently  and  resumed 
the  book  she  was  reading  ;  but  Jane  Sinclair 
went  quickly  down  the  road,  for  she  was  hur 
ried  with  a  sense  of  her  own  delayed  household 
work.  "  So  foolish  and  wicked  is  Christina," 
she  muttered  to  herself.  "  How  can  a  woman 
scorn  a  good  husband  and  a  good  home,  unless 
she  is  like  the  magpies  and  has  a  drop  o{ 
devil's  blood  in  her." 

Helga  had  no  better  success  in  her  efforts  to 
lighten  Christina's  solitude.  Indeed,  her 
visits  were  at  once  set  down  as  visits  of  surveil 
lance,  and  as  such  were  resented  in  a  way  very 
hard  for  the  mother  to  bear.  Yet  she  continued 
them  for  some  time,  always  taking  with  her 
little  presents  of  birds'  eggs  or  bits  of  fine  wool 
as  her  excuse.  The  very  poverty  of  her  offer 
ings  might  have  touched  her  daughter's  heart. 
But  it  did  not ;  and  being  one  day  in  an  ex 
ceedingly  fretful  temper,  she  turned  suddenly 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER   OWN   WAY.       1 1? 

to  Helga  and  asked  :  "  How  much  does  Paul 
pay  thee  to  watch  me  ?  A  very  mean  mother 
art  thou  to  be  a  spy  upon  thy  daughter  !  " 

This  suspicion  had  not  entered  Helga's  mind 
simply  because  she  was  a  woman  to  whom 
bribery  of  any  kind  would  have  been  an  impos 
sible  motive.  She  was  sitting  opposite  Chris 
tina  with  a  tortoise-shell  box  in  her  hand. 
Many  a  year  ago  it  had  been  thrown  upon  the 
coast  from  some  wreck.  Her  husband  had 
given  it  to  her  when  he  was  a  brave  young 
whaler  bound  for  the  Greenland  seas.  In  it 
she  had  kept  the  little  mementoes  of  her  be 
loved  dead  and  her  own  wedding  ring,  which 
had  long  ago  become  too  small  for  a  hand 
knotted  and  swollen  with  hard  labor  and 
rheumatic  pains. 

This  day  being  utterly  destitute  of  anything 
likely  to  conciliate  her  daughter,  she  had  be 
thought  her  of  the  box,  and  she  emptied  and 
took  it  to  Christina.  She  had  just  been  point 
ing  out  to  her  the  initials  which  ornamented 
the  silver  plate  upon  the  centre  of  the  lid  when 
Christina  asked  her  the  cruel  question. 

In  a  moment  the  wilful  woman  was  sorry  for 
it.  But  Helga  did  not  answer.  She  laid  the 


Ii8  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

box  upon  the  table,  drew  her  hood  over  her 
head  and  went  quickly  away.  Still  there  had 
been  such  wounded  love,  such  amazement  of 
grief,  such  complete  hopelessness  in  the  one 
look  she  gave  her  suspicious  child,  that  Chris 
tina  felt  as  if  she  never  more  could  forget  it. 
She  knew  that  her  mother's  soul  had  looked  at 
her  through  those  sad,  reproachful  eyes,  and 
the  look  was  one  which  went  straight  through 
all  disguises  to  her  own  soul.  She  longed  to 
run  after  Helga,  to  tell  her  that  the  words  had 
been  uttered  without  thought ;  that  she  was 
sorry  for  them ;  but  somehow  the  act  of  atone 
ment  was  unpermitted ;  the  Evil  One  within  her 
was  her  master. 

Yet  Christina  suffered.  She  was  constantly 
unhappy  because  she  absolutely  refused  to  re 
ceive  any  pleasure  from  her  own  blessings. 
Her  home  was  hateful  in  her  eyes  and  she 
would  not  try  to  make  it  bright  and  comfort 
able.  She  fancied  her  mother  and  friends  were 
spies  upon  her  actions,  so  she  could  receive  no 
pleasure  from  their  society.  Her  husband  was 
a  selfish  tyrant  who  would  permit  her  to  enjoy 
nothing  she  desired.  And  every  day  that  she 
nursed  such  thoughts  they  took  more  entire 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER   OWN'  WAY,       1 19 

possession  of  her.  The  wrongs  which  she  had 
at  first  complained  of  through  pure  contradic 
tion  soon  became  real  and  actual  wrongs 
to  her. 

Ere  long  it  was  a  pleasure  to  her  if  she  could 
render  Paul  as  miserable  as  herself ;  it  was  an 
occupation  to  make  him  feel  that  he  would 
have  been  wiser  had  he  let  her  go  to  Holland 
with  the  Sabays.  And  she  soon  discovered 
that  in  order  to  give  Paul  the  most  poignant 
shame  and  grief  she  had  but  to  exhibit  herself 
to  him  under  the  influence  of  wine  or  brandy, 
and  so,  gradually,  she  deliberately  chose  this 
form  of  annoyance.  And  at  this  time  she  was 
doubly  wicked  in  doing  so,  for  she  had  in  a 
great  measure  to  create  the  taste  for  the  sin 
which  she  had  chosen  as  her  weapon.  Yet  the 
natural  result  followed — the  sin  grew  with 
what  it  fed  on,  and  in  a  marvellously  short  time 
she  loved  drinking  from  its  lowest  point — a 
debased  and  perverted  taste. 

Seldom  was  Paul  angry  with  her.  When  he 
came  in  from  the  fishing,  if  she  met  him  with 
flushed  cheeks  and  an  abandon  of  reckless 
mirth,  he  silently  locked  the  door  and  sat 


120  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

speechless  in  her  presence.  For  in  such  moods 
he  soon  found  it  was  folly  to  reason  with  her. 
He  only  tempted  her  to  mock  at  holy  words. 
Still  the  agony  of  the  silent,  loving  man  upon 
the  hearthstone  did  sometimes  touch  her.  Then 
she  would  draw  near  to  him,  and  put  her  hand 
in  his  hands  and  say  thick  hurried  words  of  affec 
tion,  or  of  maudlin,  meaningless  contrition.  And 
though  at  such  times  his  soul  drew  far  away 
from  her,  he  never  suffered  her  to  see  the  repul 
sion.  Even  in  that  unpromising  hour  he  spoke 
to  her  of  God's  love  and  of  his  own  pity  and 
tenderness. 

But  it  was  in  her  hours  of  alcoholic  stupor 
that  Paul's  sufferings  were  the  keenest.  He 
was  then  tortured  with  one  dreadful  fear — if 
she  should  die  in  one  of  them  !  In  such  vigils 
he  durst  not  put  out  the  light  or  leave  her  for 
a  moment.  The  thought  that  strengthened 
him  was  ever  the  same,  "  I  am  watching  for 
her  soul !  "  He  lost  sight  then  of  all  smaller 
objects — her  womanliness,  her  good  name,  his 
own  weariness,  discomfort,  and  shame — all 
these  things  were  too  small  to  give  him  the 
strength  and  the  patience  he  needed.  "  Watch- 


CHRISTINA    TAKES  HER   OWN    WAY.       121 

ing  for  her  soul  " — to  save  it  if  possible,  from 
the  fiend  who  followed  hard  after  it.  And  for 
this  end  he  was  willing  to  suffer,  and  to  lose  all 
else — sleep,  health,  money — yea,  if  need  be, 
life  itself. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LOVE'S  PATIENCE. 

If  love  in  any  heart  arise, 

And  stir  the  tongue,  and  light  the  eyes, 

And  speed  the  foot,  and  fill  the  hand  : 

Oh  then  we  all  may  understand 

That  though  unthought  of,  God  is  there  ; 

And  of  denying  Him  beware. 

'Tis  hard  the  unbroken  dark  to  bear, 
But  harder  still  re-gathering  night. 

THE  road  to  ruin  may  be  taken  swiftly,  but 
very  seldom  altogether  at  headlong  pace. 
The  miserable  traveller  has  many  moments 
of  misgiving,  and  makes  many  efforts  either 
to  stand  still  or  to  turn  backwards.  Christina 
— though  one  of  those  women  to  whom  per 
sonal  pleasure  is  far  more  than  human  affec 
tion — was  sometimes  subject  to  such  futile  ef 
forts.  Vague  regrets  stirred  the  fathomless 
deep  of  her  selfishness  ;  she  pitied  Paul  a  little, 
she  pitied  herself  a  great  deal ;  she  had  a  dim 
sense  of  injury,  and  a  certain  fearful-looking 
forward  to  consequences.  In  such  hours  she 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  123 

tried  to  step  backward  and  find  her  old  place. 

But  how  impossible  were  such  attempts.  If 
she  dressed  neatly  and  carefully  and  went  into 
town  among  her  acquaintances  many  trifling 
things  made  her  understand  that  her  old  place 
had  almost  forgotten  her.  Social  events  had 
taken  place  of  which  she  had  not  been  informed. 
Others  were  in  preparation,  and  there  had  been 
no  consideration  of  her  in  them.  People  spoke 
civilly,  some  even  kindly  to  her,  but  yet  she 
felt  herself  to  have  become  unnecessary,  to  be 
outside,  a  visitor,  a  stranger,  one  neither  to  be 
taken  into  consultation  nor  to  be  depended 
upon. 

Even  with  Paul,  she  had  in  some  measure  a 
sense  of  the  same  feeling  of  loss.  Paul  had  in 
finite  tenderness  for  her,  but  confidence  between 
them  was  much  impaired.  When  she  was  un 
der  the  influence  of  brandy,  Christina  was  a 
great  chatterer ;  Paul  could  therefore  hold  with 
her  none  of  that  sweet  communion  in  which  two 
faithful  hearts  exchange  their  most  secret 
thoughts,  and  hopes,  and  plans.  Simple  as 
Paul's  life  was,  he  did  not  wish  it  laid  bare  to 
the  Sabays.  There  were  things  in  it  too 
sacred  for  the  jest  or  the  scornful  laugh.  So, 


124  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

though  Paul  was  always  very  loving  to  his  wife 
in  these  regretful  moods,  though  he  encouraged 
her  with  unstinted  praise  and  gratitude,  though 
he  tried  to  renew  the  happiness  of  days  long 
past,  Christina  felt  that  she  was  but  a  fallen  idol 
set  in  her  place  again,  felt  that  there  was  a 
change,  though  she  was  unable  to  say  in  what 
it  consisted. 

Only  her  mother  was  the  same.  In  Helga's 
presence  Christina  forgot  that  she  had  fallen 
below  the  Christina  of  her  youth.  Many  could 
forgive  her  faults,  but  Helga  could  also  quite 
forget  them.  When  Christina  came  to  her 
with  a  pleasant  smile  and  a  kind  word  she  let 
the  other  Christina  pass  from  her  memory  like 
a  dream  at  sunrise.  She  did  not  even  "look" 
an  advice ;  she  talked  to  her  of  daily  events  in 
her  usual  calm  way  and  always  sent  her  daugh 
ter  home  with  the  feeling  of  her  childhood 
about  her  ;  no  reproaches  no  admonitions,  only 
the  common  atmosphere  of  mother-love ;  the 
purest,  sweetest,  peacefulest  of  all  influences. 

In  it  Christina  lifted  her  head  again  and  felt, 
for  an  hour  the  possibility  of  returning  to  the 
path  she  had  left  and  lost.  Then  she  made 
many  good  resolutions — resolutions  which  drib- 


LOVE'S  PA TIENCE.  1 25 

bled  out  as  brooks  dry  up  in  summer.  Then, 
also,  she  planned  some  kind  action  to  be  done 
for  her  mother's  or  her  husband's  comfort ;  but 
alas  !  alas ! 

"  What  is  the  sorriest  thing  that  enters  hell? 
None  of  the  sins — but  this  and  that  fair  deed 
Which  a  soul's  sin  at  length  could  supersede." 

So  the  short,  vivid  summer  passed.  The  Foy 
was  over,  and  the  stranger  fishers  said  fare- 
well,  and  sailed  away.  The  calm,  melancholy 
days  of  the  "little  "  or  "  after"  summer  were 
bathing  the  islands  in  an  ethereal  hazy  glamour ; 
and  after  the  weary  vigils  of  the  herring  season 
the  men  were  resting  a  little,  and  the  women 
indulging  in  such  simple  social  gatherings  as 
fell  in  easily  with  their  preparations  for  the  ap 
proaching  winter. 

It  was  at  this  time  the  Sabays  returned. 
Christina,  standing  at  her  door,  saw  their  vessel 
coming  into  harbor.  With  her  gray  sails  all 
set,  she  was  sailing  easily  before  the  wind  and 
she  had  even  at  a  distance,  the  bluff,  braggart 
air  of  a  successful  coaster,  with  all  her  tackle 
trim, 

Sails  fill'd  and  streamers  waving  ! 

Christina's  heart  beat  fasten     She  imagined 


126  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

herself  thus  home-coming  after  a  summer's  de 
light  ;  with  pleasant  memories  behind  her  and 
new  fineries  in  her  trunk,  and  Paul  waiting  on 
the  pier  to  receive  her.  "  What  a  time  of  hap 
piness  I  might  have  had  and  how  good  it  might 
have  been  for  Paul  after  it !  "  she  sighed  ;  "  but 
it  is  his  own  fault."  For,  in  the  end,  she  always 
went  back  to  the  same  point,  "  it  is  Paul's  own 
fault !  " 

Paul  was  on  the  pier  when  Sabay  cast 
anchor.  He  saw  Isabel  leave  the  ship  with  all 
her  new  braveries  on ;  a  thick  gold  chain  round 
her  neck  and  earrings  of  gold  dropping  almost 
to  her  shoulders.  She  gathered  up  her  gay 
skirts  and  passed  him  with  unequivocal  marks 
of  her  scorn  and  displeasure.  Sabay  only 
glanced  at  him,  but  it  was  a  glance  of  evil 
meaning. 

"  Open  ill-will  it  is  to  be  between  us,  then," 
said  Paul  to  himself.  "Well,  that  is  better 
than  secret  hatred.  And  my  known  enemy 
Christina  cannot  visit ; "  yet  he  turned  home 
ward  with  the  feeling  that  he  was  in  danger 
and  that  his  watch  and  his  patience  would  have 
to  be  doubled. 

•He   had  left   Christina  in   one  of  her  most 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  127 

pleasant  moods.  He  found  her  sullen  and  irre 
sponsive.  "  So  early  this  trouble  has  begun," 
he  thought ;  and  then  he  sat  down  to  smoke 
and  to  reconsider  his  words,  lest  he  might  speak 
too  hastily.  There  was  a  pot  boiling  on  the 
fire  and  the  steam  lifted  the  lid  with  a  mono 
tonous  clap  that  would  have  been  disagree 
able  and  irritating  to  people  less  mentally 
occupied ;  but  Paul  never  noticed  the  noise 
and  Christina  was  too  listless  about  all  her  sur 
roundings  at  that  hour  to  rise  and  remedy  it. 
Presently  there  was  a  footstep  and  she  rose 
hastily  and  went  to  the  door. 

A  little  laugh  followed,  a  laugh  of  spontane 
ous  pleasure ;  and  she  passed  outside  and  closed 
the  doors  behind  her.  Then  Paul  pushed  aside 
his  chair  and  his  angry  movement  was  probably 
heard,  for  Christina  re-entered  the  house  with 
a  letter  in  her  hand.  Paul  looked  at  the  paper 
and  Christina,  a  little  defiantly,  answered  the 
question  his  face  asked,  "  It  is  from  Isabel — 
my  friend  Isabel  Sabay.  She  wants  to  see 
me." 

"  Who  brought  it  here  ?  " 

"  Dirke  Biron." 

"  Let  him  not  come  here  again  \     Tell  him  I 


128  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

say  so.  No,  thou  shalt  not  speak  to  him.  I 
will  give  him  the  order  with  my  own  lips.  I 
will  that !  " 

"  Be  wise  and  leave  Dirke  alone.  Dirke  is 
not  a  man  such  as  thou  art." 

"  I  will  not  have  him  on  my  door-stone.  It 
is  a  disgrace  to  me  and  to  thee.  As  for  Isabel's 
letter,  heed  it  not.  My  dear  Christina  between 
the  Sabays  and  us  there  can  be  no  friendship. 
Only  two  hours  ago  he  defied  me  on  the  pier 
with  the  look  of  hell  on  his  face.  Between  us 
it  is  open  hatred.  Go  not  with  thy  husband's 
enemy." 

"  To  be  kind  to  me  is  to  be  thy  enemy.  I 
know  nothing  of  thee  and  Jeppe — quarrel  with 
him  or  not,  as  it  pleases  thee.  But  Isabel  I 
I  love.  Isabel  is  my  friend.  I  am  the  first  she 
hath  sent  for.  She  has  brought  me  a  new  dress, 
and  a  gold  brooch.  For  thy  quarrels  I  cannot 
live  in  a  corner.  'Twere  far  better  for  thee  if 
thou  showed  thyself  more  of  a  friend  to  every 
one." 

"  I  tell  thee  this  plainly — to  Isabel's  thou 
shalt  not  go !  I  will  stand  at  my  door  until  we 
both  die  of  hunger  ere  I  let  thee  through  it  on 
such  an  errand." 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  129 

She  looked  in  his  face  and  perceived  that 
the  threat  was  one  he  quite  intended  to  keep. 
"  Very  well  then,"  she  said  to  her  heart ;  "  if 
I  cannot  get  to  Isabel's  one  way  I  must  go 
the  other.  In  a  quarrel  what  can  I  do  ?  Paul 
cares  neither  for  my  smiles  nor  my  tears.  But 
behind  his  back  I  can  get  my  own  way — and 
that,  too,  will  be  Paul's  own  fault." 

So  she  made  an  apparent  submission  :  "  Here 
then  is  my  letter.  Reply  to  it  thyself.  When 
a  woman  has  a  brute  for  a  husband  she  must 
crouch  under  his  hand.  Every  pleasure  thou 
hast  taken  from  me,  and  every  friend." 

"  Only  this  thing  I  ask  of  thee,  Christina ; 
only.  this.  Do  not  go  and  eat,  and  drink,  and 
make  thyself  happy  with  my  enemies.  They 
will  teach  thee  to  hate  me." 

"  Thou  art  a  good  teacher  thyself." 

"  If  for  my  sake  thou  wilt  give  up  the  Sabays, 
then  I  for  thee  will  do  all  I  can  do  to  make 
happiness.  Ask  what  thou  wilt,  if  it  is  right, 
and  if  it  is  in  my  power  I  will  do  it." 

Even  as  he  was  speaking  she  was  thinking 
how  she  could  best  gain  by  artifice  all  that  she 
desired.  And  this  plan,  once  admitted,  grew 
steadily  in  her  favor.  She  soon  began  to  cast 


13°  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

about  for  ways  and  means  and  before  long  to 
feel  a  certain  amount  of  pride  in  outwitting  so 
careful  and  clear-eyed  a  watchman.  Just  a 
sufficient  show  of  reluctance  and  of  temper  she 
made  to  give  an  air  of  reality  to  the  apparent 
surrender  of  her  wishes.  And  Paul  believed 
himself  to  have  triumphed  ;  was  so  sure  of  it 
after  a  two  weeks'  vigilance  that  he  began  to 
go  to  sea  again  with  an  easy  mind.  He  never 
suspected  that  his  wife  was  in  constant  corre 
spondence  with  Isabel  Sabay,  and  that  as  soon 
as  his  boat  was  out  of  the  harbor  she  was  on 
her  way  to  visit  her  friend. 

And  his  very  consideration  for  Christina 
proved  now  to  be  the  screen  which  hid  her  sin. 
Paul  had  never  blamed  her,  never  spoken  ill  of 
her  to  any  of  his  friends  or  acquaintances  and 
they  felt  a  like  delicacy  in  talking  about  her  to 
him.  They  supposed  that  he  was  aware  of  her 
intimacy  with  the  Sabays,  and  unable  to  pre 
vent  it ;  and  while  some  blamed  his  forbear 
ance  and  others  pitied  his  blindness,  no  one 
felt  it  to  be  their  place  to  point  out  to  the 
unhappy  husband  facts  of  which  he  was  per 
haps  only  too  well  aware. 

So  week  after  week  went  by  in  a  kind  of  dull 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  131 

content.  Paul  had  learned  not  to  expect  too 
much  and  Christina  was  kinder  to  him  and 
more  attentive  to  her  house  than  she  had  been 
for  some  time.  Even  when  he  perceived  that 
she  had  given  way  to  her  great  temptation,  he 
never  suspected  she  had  been  doing  so  in  Isa 
bel  and  Jeppe's  company.  And  no  one  told 
him  ;  for  if  delicacy  restrained  his  friends,  there 
were  motives  quite  as  powerful  which  prevented 
the  information  reaching  him  from  other 
quarters.  The  general  public  had  lost  all 
interest  in  Christina  ;  her  lapses  from  domestic 
or  social  virtues  were  now  an  old  story. 
Besides,  Paul  Thorsen  was  not  one  to  whom  it 
was  easy  to  offer  either  advice  or  consolation. 
Then  again,  men  rather  liked  Jeppe  Sabay ;  at 
any  rate,  they  preferred  not  to  quarrel  with 
him.  In  the  way  of  buying  and  selling  he 
touched  a  great  many  people  on  the  island. 
His  good  will  was  worth  having ;  his  ill  will 
was  worth  deprecating. 

But  he  was  Paul's  bitter  enemy.  He  did  not 
speak  to  Paul,  he  did  not  say  a  word  against 
him  to  any  one ;  but  he  delighted  in  taking  his 
revenge  through  Paul's  wife.  "  He  thought  us 
not  fit  company  for  the  vain,  silly  fool,"  he 


*32  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

said  to  Isabel;  "well  then,  in  a  little  while, 
every  good  woman  will  be  shamed  if  Christina 
Thorsen  say,  '  it  is  a  good,'  or  '  a  bad  day '  to 
her.  Thou  shalt  see !  More  and  more  she 
drinks.  It  will  soon  be  thy  time  and  my  time. 
Dost  thou  forget  that  Paul  Thorsen  called  thee 
a  bad  woman  ?  I  do  not  forget.  No,  indeed  !" 
"A  good  memory  have  I,  also,  Jeppe." 
How  could  a  weak  woman  like  Christina  help 
falling  into  a  snare  so  cunning  and  so  tempting 
when  she  had  only  her  own  strength  to  rely  on? 
Christina  never  tried  to  escape  it.  All  her 
efforts  were  directed  to  one  object — hiding  her 
visits  to  Sabay's  house  from  Paul.  The  spiced 
liquors,  the  dance,  the  song,  the  gay  company 
— these  things  were  potently  irresistible  to  her  ; 
even  though  they  were  often  mingled  with  little 
spiteful  tempers  in  Isabel,  and  very  unpleasant 
sneers  from  Jeppe  hurting  her  personal  pride 
in  every  point. 

So  in  spite  of  all,  their  influence  over  her 
grew  with  the  lapse  of  every  week ;  and  when 
it  was  fully  assured  they  began  to  be  less  care 
ful  of  the  poor  woman's  good  name — to  even 
feel  a  certain  wicked  satisfaction  in  seeing  her 
stagger  home  through  the  streets  of  her  native 


LOVE'S  PA  TIENCE.  133 

town  the  laughter  of  the  wicked-hearted  and 
the  thoughtless. 

Late  one  November  afternoon  Christina  went 
to  the  public  fountain  for  some  water.  Five  or 
six  women  were  idling  around  the  curb  talking 
about  her.  "  Thou  should  have  seen  her  yes 
terday,  Gisla  ;  when  out  of  Sabay's  house  she 
came  there  was  room  for  no  one  else  in  the 
street.  A  bad  woman  is  she  ?  And  I  am  sorry 
for  Helga  Bork,  and  for  Paul  Thorsen  ;  I  am 
that !  " 

"  They  had  not  observed  Christina's  ap 
proach  and  she  heard  the  last  remark.  She 
was  nervous  and  irritable,  and  precisely  in  the 
condition  to  lose  all  control  over  herself.  Scorn 
ful  looks  from  the  young  woman  and  reproofs 
and  advices  from  the  elder  ones  were  met  by 
passionate  counter  assertions  and  most  un 
womanly  anger.  In  the  darkening  street  a 
crowd  was  gathering,  and  there  was  a  hubbub 
of  rude  laughs  and  provoking  taunts  ;  and  above 
all  the  clamor  the  shrill  voice  of  the  almost 
irresponsible  victim  of  it. 

Suddenly  into  the  exasperated  throng  strode 
the  minister.  In  the  gloom  his  face  showed 
white  and  stern  as  an  accusing  angel's. 


*34  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  It  is  fools  who  make  a  mock  at  sin,"  he 
said  with  visible  anger.  "  Was  there  not  one 
woman  among  you  with  the  pity  of  Christ  in 
her  heart  ?  " 

"  With  passion  she  is  beside  herself,  minister." 

"  Who  among  you  is  without  sin  in  that  mat 
ter,  Gisla?  Go  to  your  homes.  Christina,  give 
me  thine  hand.  I  will  walk  with  thee." 

She  had  spoken  many  bitter  words  of  the 
minister,  she  had  made  a  mock  of  his  authority 
in  Sabay's  room;  she  had  vowed  she  would  never 
speak  with  him  or  to  him,  but  at  this  hour  she 
was  not  able  to  resist  his  influence.  She  suffered 
him  to  take  her  hand,  and  he  led  her  gently 
away,  as  she  sobbed  out  her  passion  like  a  pun 
ished  child. 

But  when  he  had  placed  her  on  her  own 
hearth,  he  spared  her  nothing  of  the  reproof 
she  merited.  His  awful  words  terrified  her ; 
and  when  he  left  her  with  her  own  thoughts, 
she  felt  as  if  hell  was  beneath  her  feet  and 
might  open  any  moment  to  receive  her.  In  a 
short  time  she  heard  Paul's  footsteps,  and  she 
was  glad  of  them ;  for  she  was  sick  and  trem 
bling  with  the  excitement  of  the  scene  she  had 
passed  through,  and  with  the  dread  apprehen- 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  135 

sions  of  Dr.  Logic's  reproof.  Her  husband's 
face  only  intensified  her  fright  for  Paul  had 
met  the  minister  and  heard  the  shameful  story 
from  his  lips,  and  through  all  the  tan  of  wind 
and  weather  he  was  white  with  anger. 

For  once  he  did  not  notice  Christina  who 
stood  half-sorry  and  half-defiant  in  the  middle 
of  the  room.  He  did  not  even  look  at  her;  he 
locked  the  door  and  sitting  down  on  his  un 
happy  hearth  he  wept  bitterly.  Not  any  phys 
ical  torture  could  have  forced  such  tears  from 
Paul  Thorsen.  It  was  such  a  rain  of  sorrow  as 
might  fall  from  an  angel's  eyes  over  a  lost  soul. 
There  was  something  piteously  amazing  in  the 
sight  of  this  bearded  giant  shaking  with  his 
emotion  ;  shivering  and  weeping  in  the  cruel 
power  of  a  woman  so  weak  and  so  unworthy. 

His  grief  was  intensified  by  the  fact  that  she 
was  soon  to  become  a  mother.  He  determined 
whatever  it  might  cost  not  to  leave  her  again. 
The  next  morning  he  went  to  Donald  Groat  the 
great  merchant  of  the  place  and  said  to  him . 
"Thou  knowest  my  trouble.  I  want  now  to 
stay  at  home  with  my  wife.  Wilt  thou  let  me 
make  thy  nets  for  the  next  season  ?  I  can 
make  them  well." 


I36  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"Thou  may  begin  to-day,  Paul.  They  will 
be  lucky  nets  that  so  good  a  man  makes.  My 
heart  is  sorry  for  thee  !  " 

"We  will  not  speak  of  that  Donald.  Every 
one  must  drink  the  cup  given  him  to  drink ; 
but  God's  love  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  bitter 
est." 

Then  they  measured  the  nets  and  the  twine 
and  Paul  took  his  work  home  with  him.  But  it 
was  a  hard  thing  for  so  simple-hearted  a  man 
to  watch  a  woman  whose  passion  made  her 
abnormally  quick-witted  in  its  gratification. 
Christina  was  not  long  in  getting  word  of  her 
situation  to  Isabel  and  the  necessity  for  secrecy 
and  diplomacy  added  a  piquant  flavor  to  her 
indulgencies. 

About  the  New  Year  she  had  a  son,  and  the 
little  upper  chamber  in  which  she  lay  was  for 
three  months  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death.  She  went  down  to  the  grave  twice 
over  and  was  as  helpless  as  the  child  she 
brought  into  the  world.  But  in  spite  of  their 
weariness  and  anxiety  they  were  in  many  re 
spects  the  most  hopeful  and  happy  months 
Paul  had  known  for  a  long  time.  Christina 
became  in  them  gentle  and  loving.  All  the 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  137 

past  was  forgiven  and  the  future  had  a  halo  of 
hope  about  it.  For  the  child  was  one  of  extra 
ordinary  beauty  and  Christina  loved  it  with  all 
her  heart. 

Unfortunately  at  that  day  no  one  had  thought 
of  protecting  the  weak  from  temptation. 
Brandy  and  gin  smuggled  into  the  Islands  from 
Holland  were  in  every  house  as  naturally  as 
was  the  tea  which  both  sexes  drank  in  profu 
sion.  Paul's  efforts  to  keep  brandy  out  of  his 
wife's  reach  were  regarded  as  very  singular,  for 
brandy  was  the  panacea  for  every  sickness  and 
especially  for  every  physical  weakness.  When 
Christina  was  slowly  creeping  back  to  life  it  was 
on  brandy  and  new  milk  the  doctor  fed  her; 
and  some  of  the  women  about  the  house  were 
constantly  using  it.  In  the  warm  closed  rooms 
the  subtle  odor  was  everywhere  and  contin 
ually  present. 

Paul's  opposition  at  this  time  was  of  no  use. 
In  sickness  the  men  of  the  house  must  give 
way  before  the  doctor  and  the  women.  Still 
he  hoped  everything  from  the  new  interest 
which  had  come  into  Christina's  life.  Her 
baby  was  in  all  her  thoughts,  and  Paul,  with  a 
pure  unselfishness  encouraged  its  power.  "And 


I38  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

a  little  child  shall  lead  them."  In  some  way 
the  words  fastened  themselves  upon  his  mind 
and  he  took  them  for  a  sign  and  a  comfort  and 
trusted  that  the  small  dimpled  baby  hands 
would  be  strong  enough  to  slay  the  demon  of 
strong  drink. 

In  the  sweetest  moments  of  their  household 
confidences  Paul  rather  hinted  at  than  spoke  of 
these  hopes,  for  he  was  afraid  of  wounding 
Christina  and  of  calling  back  those  sullen, 
resentful  moods  which  had  always  followed  his 
complaints  however  just  they  might  be.  Still 
his  own  heart  was  so  full  of  the  new  joy,  and 
he  felt  it  to  be  such  a  compelling  sweetness 
and  power  to  himself,  that  he  would  not  doubt 
its  authority  over  the  child's  mother. 

As  Christina  regained  health  and  strength, 
however,  the  fitful  passion  resumed  its  sway. 
She  tried  to  hide  and  to  control  it,  but  Paul 
knew  too  well  the  faintest  symptom  of  the 
detested  tyranny.  He  felt  hopeless;  the  more 
so  as  it  was  again  May,  and  the  herring  season 
proved  to  be  one  of  unusual  stir  and  bustle. 
The  harbor  was  crowded  with  boats.  The  nar 
row  streets  in  a  morning  were  like  a  fair.  There 
were  also  several  small  parties  of  strangers,and 


LOVE'S  PATIENCE.  139 

among  them  an  artist  who  was  so  struck  with 
the  singular  beauty  of  Christina  and  her  baby 
that  he  followed  her  all  over  to  obtain  sketches 
of  them. 

It  flattered  her  vanity.  She  was  far  more  in 
the  street  than  in  her  house.  Then  Isabel 
resumed  her  influence  over  her.  She  felt,  or 
she  affected  to  feel,  a  great  interest  in  the 
beautiful  baby.  She  was  always  delighted  to 
nurse  it  when  Christina  was  weary.  Sabay's 
house  was  a  very  gay  one  at  this  time.  It  was 
a  great  temptation  to  Christina.  She  went 
there  frequently,  and  whenever  she  went  she 
drank  more  or  less.  Yet  she  had  given  Paul 
her  promise  not  to  cross  its  threshold,  and 
she  was  frequently  obliged  to  lie  away  his  sus 
picions  ;  but  if  drinking  and  foolish  company 
be  the  first  sins,  then  lying  and  all  other  sins 
can  easily  follow  them. 

As  the  winter  came  on  Paul  wondered  what 
it  was  right  for  him  to  do.  Christina's  long 
sickness  had  run  him  into  debt  which  it  had 
taken  all  his  summer's  earnings  to  clear  off.  At 
knotting  nets  he  could  not  support  his  house. 
Besides,  the  man's  own  nature  demanded  the 
active,  adventurous  life  for  which  it  was  made. 


140  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

He  had  borne  the  constraint  before,  and  after 
all  it  had  effected  nothing ;  and  now  without 
hard  labor  he  was  in  danger  of  poverty  and 
debt. 

At  last  he  went  to  the  minister  for  advice. 
His  answer  was  brief  and  decided. 

"  Go  thou  and  do  thy  daily  work,  Paul  Thor- 
sen,"  he  said.  "Neglect  of  duty  never  yet 
helped  the  right  or  prevented  the  wrong.  This 
afternoon  I  shall  call  upon  Christina,  for  I  have 
something  to  say  to  her." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE. 

Thus  he  speaks — ' '  Repent !  Repentance 

Smoothes  Messiah's  way ; 
'Tis  an  old  and  weighty  sentence, 

Weigh  it  well  to-day. 
Hast  thou  nursed  a  sin?  confess  it. 
Hast  thou  done  a  wrong  ?  redress  it." 
****** 

Raise  thy  disconsolate  brows, 
And  front  with  level  eyelids  the  to-come 
And  all  the  dark  of  the  world. 

WHEN  the  minister  reached  Paul's  house 
it  was  snowing  slightly,  but  he  found 
Christina  dressed  to  go  out,  with  the  child 
folded  under  her  cloak. 

"  Take  off  thy  cloak,"  he  said ;  "  it  is  not 
proper  for  thee,  this  day,  to  take  the  child  out." 

"  It  will  do  him  no  hurt.  Every  day  I  take 
him  out.  It  is  good  for  him." 

"  He  might  take  cold.  Croup  is  a  dreadful 
and  a  swift  follower.  If  he  should  die " 

"  It  would  kill  me,  too.  Why  dost  thou  say 
such  words?  Cruel  are  they." 


142  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

11  Me !  me  !  I  am  not  thinking  of  thee  !  My 
fears  are  for  thy  unbaptized  babe !  Woman, 
woman,  if  he  died — dare  thou  follow  out  the 
thought?" 

"  Baptize  him ;  yes,  thou  wilt — for  Paul's 
sake." 

"  And  it  would  be  all  thy  fault,  all  thy  fault. 
Oh,  wicked  and  cruel  mother,  where  are  there 
words  for  thy  sin  !  " 

"  Thou  might  baptize  him  ?     Do  ! " 

"  I  will  not  give  the  holy  things  of  the 
church  but  unto  the  children  of  righteousness. 
No,  I  will  not.  The  inheritance  of  heaven  is 
for  the  seed  of  those  who  love  the  Lord.  Thou 
hast  not  dared  to  come  to  His  table  for  these 
two  years ;  but  thou  hast  rioted  with  publicans 
and  sinners.  If  thou  loved  thy  son " 

"  I  do  love  him." 

"  Then,  first  of  all,  thou  wouldst  have 
brought  him  to  his  Father's  house,  and  called 
him  by  his  Father's  name,  and  sought  for  him 
the  blessing  of  God's  elect  ones." 

"What  shall  I  do?  Tell  me,  what  shall 
I  do?" 

"  I  will  give  thee  the  choice  of  two  things. 
Give  thy  son  to  one  of  his  grandmothers.  Let 


THE   HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  143 

her  come  with  thy  husband  and  make  the 
promises  thou  should  make  and  bring  up  the 
child  for  the  Lord,  then  I  will  baptize  him. 
On  next  Sabbath  day  I  will  certainly  baptize 
him." 

"  I  will  not  give  my  son  to  any  one.  No 
indeed,  I  will  not." 

"  I  did  not  expect  thou  would.  Well,  then, 
there  is  another  way,  and  I  trust  thou  wilt 
walk  in  it.  Thou  must  give  up  the  Sabays  and 
all  the  companions  thou  hast  met  there ;  thou 
must  give  them  up  entirely  and  forever.  Thou 
must  not  taste  nor  even  look  upon  any  strong 
liquor;  for  a  little,  and  what  is  reasonable, 
thou  cast  not  take ;  so  then  put  the  whole 
thing  from  thee.  Thou  must  be  obedient  to 
thy  good  husband  and  more  loving  to  thy 
mother,  and  thou  must  come  once  every  week 
to  see  me  and  to  tell  me  in  whatever  thou  hast 
failed.  Then  I  will  help  and  counsel  thee,  and 
pray  with  thee.  If  thou  art  sick,  or  the  child 
is  sick,  and  thou  cannot  come,  send  me  word 
by  Paul  and  I  will  come  to  thee.  All  winter 
thou  must  do  this,  and  on  the  next  May  Occa 
sion  thou  must  publicly  profess  thy  repentance 
and  thy  faith  in  God's  mercy.  Then  I  will 


144  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA, 

give  thee  the  holy  cup,  and  I  will  baptize  thy 
little  child  into  the  family  of  God.  Wilt  thou 
do  these  things?" 

"  I  cannot  give  up  the  Sabays.  Isabel  would 
say  very  hard  things  of  me — things  which  are 
not  true." 

"  Paul  will  stand  at  thy  right  hand  and  I 
will  stand  at  thy  left.  No  one  shall  reproach 
thee  with  the  past.  My  daughter  if  now,  with 
all  thy  heart  thou  turn  thee  this  day  unto  the 
Lord,  there  will  be  far  more  for  thee  than  can 
be  against  thee." 

Then  he  stood  up  and  blessed  the  child  and 
left  Christina  weeping  bitterly.  He  hoped  that 
she  would  came  and  see  him  and  tell  him  that 
she  would  take  the  road  he  had  pointed  out  to 
her  and  he  watched  anxiously  for  the  visit. 

But  Christina  made  the  mistake  which  so 
many  souls  struggling  with  great  temptations 
make — she  determined  upon  a  partial  reforma 
tion.  She  would  take  no  more  wine  or  brandy ; 
and  just  yet,  at  any  rate,  she  would  not  go  to 
Isabel's.  There  would  be  no  occasion  to  tell 
her  the  real  reason ;  the  snow  and  the  baby 
would  be  excuse  enough.  Thus  she  was  trying 
— poor,  weak  soul — to  do  what  the  strongest 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  145 

natures  fail  to  do — to  serve  God  and  Mam 
mon. 

Paul  could  not  help  but  see  how  earnestly  his 
wife  was  trying  to  conquer  her  faults  ;  his  heart 
was  full  of  love  and  pity  for  her,  and  he  cheered 
her  when  she  failed  with  such  encouraging  words 
as  his  great  forgiving  nature  taught  him.  Un 
fortunately  he  was  compelled  to  be  much  at 
Scalloway,  where  he  was  building  some  boats 
for  the  next  season,  and  Christina  was  fre 
quently  left  alone  many  days  at  a  time.  At 
first  these  absences  were  full  of  care  and  fear  to 
Paul,  but  they  were  not  at  once  abused.  Helga 
went  frequently  to  see  the  baby,  and  the  fond 
young  mother  thought  those  hours  short  enough 
which  were  given  to  talking  over  his  pretty 
ways  and  his  many  perfections. 

She  had  not  yet  gone  to  see  the  minister,  but 
the  resolve  to  submit  herself  to  his  guidance 
was  gradually  becoming  a  definite  purpose  in 
her  mind.  Yet  Paul  was  afraid  to  urge  her,  for 
she  had  that  contradictious  temper  which  re 
fuses  for  the  sake  of  refusing,  as  if  concession 
was  a  kind  of  submission.  And  the  minister 
did  not  further  press  her  obligations.  He 
wished  her  allegiance  to  be  given  of  free  will, 


146  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

and  independent  of  outside  pressure.  Certainly 
he  had  awakened  her  conscience.  He  believed 
then  that  it  was  best  to  permit  conscience  to 
work  in  her  both  to  will  and  to  do  what  she 
knew  to  be  right. 

In  other  ways,  however,  his  influence  helped 
her.  If  he  met  her  on  the  street,  he  made  a 
point  of  standing  to  talk  with  her.  He  noticed 
the  little  child,  he  gave  it  his  blessing.  His 
championship  of  her  cause  was  so  evident  that 
it  insured  her  immunity  from  any  overt  act  of 
feminine  ill-nature.  From  the  manse,  also,  had 
come  the  baby's  first  shoes ;  little  soft  shields 
of  pretty  pink  wool,  tied  with  pink  ribbons. 
Christina  was  immeasurably  proud  of  them.  A 
few  days  after  their  reception  she  met  Mrs. 
Logic  in  the  town,  and  the  two  women  admired 
together  their  snug  fit  on  the  sturdy  little  feet 
they  warmed  and  adorned.  Several  of  Chris 
tina's  acquaintances  saw  the  meeting,  and  their 
observance  added  much  to  her  pride  and  happi 
ness.  After  it  she  did  not  care  if  Gisla  Fae  and 
Suneva  Torr  passed  her  without  a  word. 

"  Let  them!"  she  said  to  Paul;  "what  fear 
have  I  of  the  slant  look  out  of  their  envious 
eyes  ?  What  they  have  in  their  mind  I  heed 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  M7 

not.  Every  one  has  something  to  boast  of.  I 
have  the  little  pink  shoes.  They  have  made 
Gisla  and  Suneva  blind  with  envy.  For  it  is 
something,  indeed,  for  the  minister's  wife  to 
show  one  such  favor." 

"  I  thought  Gisla  would  be  kind  to  thee.  A 
good  helper  I  have  been  to  her  husband  more 
than  once." 

"  'Twas  not  to  be  hoped,  Paul,  that  Gisla 
vould  behave  well  to  me  when  she  behaves  ill 
t;o  every  one  else." 

She  was  sitting  before  the  fire  at  his  side,  her 
?>aby  sleeping  on  her  knee,  her  right  hand 
dasped  in  Paul's  hand.  In  the  measure  of  hap 
piness  that  had  come  to  him  he  could  not 
afford  to  be  critical ;  many  such  speeches  he 
let  pass  in  loving  silence.  For  a  true  human 
love  is  like  the  Divine  love,  in  that  it  does  not 
willingly  break  the  bruised  reed  or  quench  the 
smoking  flax.  He  felt  that  he  could  no  more 
separate  the  good  and  evil  in  her  nature  than 
the  husbandman  could  weed  out  the  poppies 
from  the  wheat. 

As  the  mid-winter  came  on  the  class  repre 
sented  by  the  Sabays  indulged  themselves  in 
constant  dances  and  merry-makings.  The  sea- 


148  PAUL  AND   CHRISTIE  A. 

son  was  not  favorable  for  their  ventures. 
Weather  which  enabled  them  to  make  quick 
trips  and  run  easily  into  the  narrow,  dangerous 
vacs,  was  a  necessary  condition  to  success.  So, 
while  the  great  winds  were  blowing  from  the 
North,  and  the  waves  were  running  as  high  as 
the  gable  of  a  house,  they  passed  their  time  in 
a  riot,  which  they  called  pleasure,  haunting 
the  various  small  public-houses  of  the  Shetland 
ports. 

Sabay's  was  a  favorite  and  well-known  ren 
dezvous  ;  the  resort  of  the  more  wealthy  mem 
bers  of  this  desperate  class — skippers  and 
owners  of  smuggling  crafts ;  men  who  had 
made  money  in  them,  men  who  had  money  to 
invest  in  subsequent  expeditions.  Sabay  af 
fected  respectability,  and  in  his  entertainments 
a  certain  decorum  was  insisted  upon  ;  yet  his 
house  at  this  season  was  always  alight  until  very 
late,  and  from  it  came  the  noise  of  laughter, 
of  singing,  and  of  dancing  to  trouble  the  solemn 
silence  of  the  midnight  hours.  Very  soon 
Christina's  light  foot  and  witty  tongue  were 
missed  by  Sabay's  revellers  and  she  was  so 
frequently  inquired  for  that  Isabel  determined 
to  waive  all  ceremony,  go  and  see  her  friend, 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  1 49 

and  discover  in  what  way  she   had  offended 
her. 

She  found  Christina  dressing  her  baby.  At 
first  she  was  cold  and  shy,  and  apparently  but 
little  gratified  by  Isabel's  advances.  But  Isabel 
had  worked  her  weak,  vain  companion  too  often 
to  her  own  purposes  not  to  understand  how  to 
manage  her.  "  Thou  art  asked  for  on  every 
hand,"  she  said,  "and  there  is  no  pleasure  for 
many  if  thou  art  not  there  to  make  it.  Dirke 
Biron  said  but  last  night,  'Where,  then,  is 
Christina?  I  cannot  dance,  wanting  her  light 
foot  to  time  my  own.'  And  after  hearing  thee 
sing  '  The  Cutter's  Chase,'  who  would  want  to 
listen  to  Jessie  Thorkel  singing  it  ?  Even  Sabay 
says  he  is  longing  to  hear  thee  recite  again — 
thou  hast  such  a  good  store  of  old  tales.  Come 
then  for  one  hour  only,  come  !  And  I  think 
also  that  thou  art  selfish  to  keep  thy  baby  so 
much  to  thyself.  I  have  spoken  of  the  child's 
great  beauty,  and  many  are  anxious  to  see  him. 
Let  me  have  my  way  this  time,  Christina  ?" 

Thus  alternately  touching  Christina's  per 
sonal  vanity  and  her  maternal  pride,  Isabel 
managed  before  she  left  not  only  to  get  Chris 
tina's  promise  to  join  them  that  night,  but  also 


15°  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA, 

to  make  her  feel  that  it  would  be  rather  a  plea 
sant  thing  to  keep  her  promise.  She  knew 
that  Paul  would  not  be  at  home  until  the  end 
of  the  week.  It  was  not  likely  he  would  ever 
hear  of  the  visit,  and  she  was  fully  determined 
only  to  go  once,  and  no  more.  But  she  wanted 
to  exhibit  her  baby,  and  she  wanted  to  sing 
and  dance,  and  take  her  farewell  of  the  society 
at  Sabay's  with  an  eclat  which  should  be  a 
flattering  memory,  even  when  she  was  a  pious 
old  woman.  As  for  Paul,  she  resolved  that  she 
would  atone  to  him  for  her  deception  by  being 
more  than  usually  kind  and  attentive  to  him. 
She  would  make  him  very  happy,  and  "  surely," 
she  thought,  "  Isabel  is  quite  right.  If  I  make 
Paul  happy  in  his  way  when  he  is  at  home, 
then  I  have  a  right  to  be  happy  in  my  way 
when  he  is  absent." 

So  she  went  to  Isabel's  and  her  presence  was 
made  a  festival  of.  Every  one  was  delighted  to 
see  her;  the  baby  was  exhibited  and  praised 
enthusiastically.  She  thought  she  had  never 
been  so  happy, and  that  night  she  drank  noth 
ing  but  blanda*  and  tea,  and  she  went  home 
before  midnight.  She  was  so  pleased  with  her- 
*  Blanda,  a  pleasant,  tart  drink  made  from  sour  milk. 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  i$i 

self  for  what  she  had  not  done  that  she  quite 
forgot  the  evil  she  had  done. 

When  Paul  returned  she  kept  the  promise 
she  had  made  to  herself.  She  had  never  been 
so  affectionate  and  obedient.  She  regarded  all 
his  wishes,  she  restrained  her  temper,  she  kept 
her  house  in  comfortable  order;  but  she  did 
not  tell  her  husband  of  her  visit  to  Sabay's, 
and  Paul  never  once  suspected  it." 

For  a  few  weeks  she  was  cautious  and  moder 
ate.  The  people  who  visited  Sabays  were  not 
given  to  talking  with  those  not  in  the  "  set," 
nor  were  they  likely  to  come  in  contact  with 
either  Paul  or  the  minister.  A  sense  of  secu 
rity  in  her  sin  gradually  blunted  Christina's 
prudent  restrictions ;  she  began  to  go  oftener 
and  to  stay  later.  One  night  after  she  had  been 
dancing  for  some  time,  the  smell  of  the  spiced 
negus  affected  her  like  an  incantation.  She 
could  not  resist  it ;  she  drank,  and  drank  deeply, 
and  all  her  good  resolutions  were  swept  away 
as  a  cloud  before  a  mighty  wind. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  a  relapse  which 
soon  began  to  tell  upon  her  both  physically 
and  morally.  No  one  said  a  word  to  Paul,  but 
he  became  uneasy;  he  was  certain  something 


I$2  PAUL   AND    CIUtlSTIXA. 

was  wrong.  Christina  was  depressed  and  irri 
table  again,  and  she  resented  all  inquiries  with 
angry  assertions  that  she  was  quite  well. 
Paul  was  afraid  to  ask  questions  lest  he  might 
give  excuse  for  realizing  his  fears ;  he  was  afraid 
to  stay  at  home  lest  she  should  resent  the  sus 
picion  it  implied.  He  began  almost  to  think 
that  he  had  prayed  in  vain. 

But  could  the  eyes  that  grow  so  dim 

Beside  a  solitary  fire, 
Look  forth  beyond  the  horizon's  rim 
And  see  the  coming  ship,  Desire, 
Up  like  a  flame  the  heart  would  leap, 
Although  slow  hours  their  watch  must  keep. 

While  the  root,  locked  in  slumber  fast, 

Rests  through  the  weary  winter  tide, 

The  world  speeds  on,  that  God  at  last 

His  summer's  heartseabe  may  provide, 
And  all  love's  tender  prophecies 
In  tenderer  blooms  may  realize. 

Still  it  was  hard  for  Paul  to  go  on  trusting 
when  trust  was  ever  betrayed ;  hard  to  go  on 
hoping  when  hope  was  at  the  mercy  of  a 
woman  weak  and  vain  and  unstable  as  water. 

One  afternoon  such  a  feeling  of  terror  took 
possession  of  him  that  he  dropped  his  tools, 
though  the  boat  he  was  building  was  nearly 
finished,  and  started  for  his  home.  Over  the 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  I  S3 

treeless  desert  through  the  black  moss-water 
and  rank  fen  grass  he  hurried,  for  it  was  the 
shortest  road ;  yet  it  was  far  in  the  night 
when  he  saw  the  glimmering  lights  of  his  own 
town.  As  he  approached  his  house  he  per 
ceived  a  red  glow  in  the  window  and  he  shouted 
aloud  in  his  joy  and  gratitude,  for  he  concluded 
at  once  that  Christina  was  in  her  home.  How 
could  he  suspect  that  the  light  had  been  pur 
posely  put  there  in  order  to  deceive  the  passers- 
by? 

So  he  found  the  door  locked  and  the  house 
empty.  Sick  with  a  shameful  fear  he  went  first 
to  Helga  Bork's.  Christina  had  visited  her 
more  frequently  since  the  birth  of  the  baby. 
Once  or  twice  she  had  stayed  all  night  with  her 
mother.  It  was  his  last  hope  and  it  was  soon 
dispelled.  He  did  not  even  need  to  speak  to 
Ilclga.  He  saw  her  through  the  small  window 
sitting  motionless  before  a  handful  of  glowing 
peats.  Something  in  her  attitude  satisfied  him 
that  she  was  quite  alone.  He  turned  impa 
tiently  round  and  went  with  rapid  strides  to 
Sabay's  house.  Every  window  was  lit,  and 
there  was  the  sound  of  fiddles  and  the  dull 
beating  of  dancing  feet. 


154  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  God  help  me !     God  help  me  !" 

He  flung  the  brief  petition  into  the  cold  dark 
air  and  then  went  to  the  door.  Two  men 
opened  it,  and  passed  out  as  he  passed  in.  He 
heard  one  of  them  say  with  a  gay  laugh,  "  the 
little  Christina !  "  A  raging  fire  was  in  his 
heart  then,  and  he  determined  to  see  for  him 
self  how  his  wife  was  spending  the  hours  of  his 
absence. 

The  sight  was  easily  obtained.  As  he  passed 
along  the  crowded  passage  he  had  only  to 
glance  through  the  open  door  into  the  large 
public  room.  Christina  was  dancing  with 
Dirke  Biron.  Of  all  men  he  hated  him  most ; 
and  Christina  knew  it.  Her  cheeks  were 
flushed,  her  eyes  flashing.  She  had  on  the 
silk  dress  and  the  gold  ornaments  he  had  given 
her  for  their  own  marriage. 

At  the  same  moment  that  he  saw  Christina 
he  heard  the  faint  cry  of  a  child.  It  was  the 
voice  of  his  own  boy  and  he  believed  it  to  be  a 
call  for  his  help.  Following  the  sound  to  a 
small  back  room  he  found  it  on  the  knee  of  an 
old  crone  who  was  so  heavily  asleep  that  she 
never  knew  when  Paul  took  it  away. 

The    room    reeked    with    brandy,   and  the 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  155 

stamping  of  the  feet  in  the  next  room  were  like 
blows  upon  his  heart.  He  kissed  the  babe, 
folded  it  tight  under  his  big  skin  coat  and  went 
out  of  the  sinful  place. 

"  I  will  save  the  child,  at  any  rate,"  he  said 
fiercely.  "  Poor  little  innocent  one  !  She  has 
kept  it  out  of  the  House  of  God,  but  she  shall 
never  again  take  it  into  house  of  devil.  No 
indeed  !  I  will  take  care  for  that." 

For  a  moment  he  hesitated  between  the 
child's  grandmothers ;  but  he  very  soon  came 
to  a  decision.  Christina  had  too  much  influence 
over  Helga.  He  could  not  prevent  her  going 
to  see  her  mother,  and  thus  she  would  retain  an 
influence  over  the  child.  With  his  own  mother 
he  determined  to  leave  it,  and  although  Voe 
Ness  was  six  miles  distant  he  went  straight 
there. 

It  was  midnight  when  he  arrived  at  Margery 
Thorsen's  cottage.  The  good  woman  was  lying 
awake  in  her  bed  when  she  heard  her  son's 
voice.  With  the  turn  of  the  night  a  heavy 
rain  had  come  on  and  Paul  was  wet  and 
exceedingly  weary.  The  child  was  crying 
also ;  its  sobs  were  the  first  sounds  Margery 
heard. 


1 5 6  PAUL   AND   CHRISTINA. 

"  Paul !  "  she  said  in  amazement,  "  thou  here, 
and  the  child." 

He  could  not  answer  her.  His  heart  seemed 
to  be  breaking.  He  was  weeping  and  did  not 
know  it.  As  Margery  stirred  up  the  peats  and 
added  more  fuel  he  uncovered  the  boy  and  put 
his  feet  to  the  warmth. 

"  Speak  to  me,  Paul.  Why  art  thou  here  ? 
Is  thy  wife  ill,  then?" 

"  My  wife  is  dancing  with  Dirke  Biron  at 
Sabay's  ;  dancing  and  drinking  the  good  night 
away.  Oh,  mother,  mother !" 

"  Left  she  the  child  at  home  alone?" 

"  That  had  been  better  than  to  take  it  into 
such  a  hell.  Thou  knowst  of  Aljoe  Bent,  the 
old  spaewife,  who  has  grown  gray  in  serving 
the  devil.  It  was  on  her  knee  I  found  my  son. 
She  was  stupid  with  brandy.  The  room  was 
heavy  with  its  odor." 

"  And  what  then  said  Christina  ?  " 

"  She  knew  not.  No  one  noticed  me.  Many 
were  coming  and  going.  They  thought  I  was 
of  their  kind,  or  I  had  not  been  there.  Without 
question  I  passed  in  and  out.  That  is  the  way 
at  these  places.  Should  a  good  man's  wife  be 
among  such  a  crowd  ?" 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE  157 

"  My  son,  I  am  sorry  for  thee." 

"  Well  then,  it  is  the  end,  mother.  I  can  bear 
it  no  longer.  For  my  sake  thou  will  take  the 
child?  Say  that." 

"  I  will  take  the  child,  and  I  will  do  all  for 
him  as  I  did  for  thee,  if  I  may." 

"Who  shall  hinder  thee?  Not  Christina. 
In  the  morning  at  the  daylight  I  will  go  and  see 
the  minister  and  the  magistrate  and  before 
them  I  will  give  my  son  to  thee.  When  they 
hear  the  truth  no  doubt  is  there  but  they  will 
bind  the  gift  sure." 

"And  then,  my  Paul?" 

"  Then  I  will  go  away,  mother ;  I  will  go 
where  I  can  never  see  Christina  or  hear  from 
her  or  about  her  ;  for  my  life  is  broken  in  two 
and  all  hope  is  gone  away  from  me." 

They  sat  talking  until  daylight  and  then  Paul 
rose  up  to  finish  the  work  he  had  begun.  There 
was  no  relenting  this  time  in  his  heart.  He 
was  sure  that  he  could  have  forgiven  a  relapse 
into  drunkenness,  and  born  patiently  again  her 
old  irritability;  but  for  this  deliberate  wrong 
hidden  by  smiles  and  kisses,  which  were  in 
tended  to  deceive  him,  he  had  no  pardon. 

Weary  as  he  was  he  could  not  rest.    At  day- 


158  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

light  he  went  to  his  own  home,  and  there  he 
found  Christina  in  hysterics  of  grief  about  her 
lost  child.  No  one  had  suspected  Paul  in  the 
matter  and  a  messenger  had  been  sent  to  Seal- 
loway  to  inform  him  of  the  catastrophe  which 
had  come  to  his  house.  There  was  a  crowd  of 
women  around  Christina,  and  he  sternly  ordered 
them  away. 

"  The  child  is  safe,"  he  said ;  "  I  took  it." 

When  they  were  alone  Christina  ran  to  him. 
"  Paul,  Paul,  where  is  my  baby  ?  " 

"  I  have  given  the  child — mind,  I  have  given 
it — to  my  mother.  Thou  shalt  not  see  it  again. 
I  will  have  it  brought  up  for  God.  I  see  well 
that  thou  art  determined  to  go  to  the  devil." 

She  cried,  she  implored,  she  shrieked,  she 
raved.  He  sat  still  and  let  her  passion  have  it 
sway.  When  through  pure  physical  exhaus 
tion  she  was  silent,  he  said  :  "  Christina  thou 
hast  no  more  power  over  me  in  this  matter. 
Last  night  God  sent  me  after  the  child.  I  know 
He  did.  It  cried  to  me  from  the  very  mouth 
of  hell.  I  have  given  my  boy  to  my  mother. 
I  will  make  the  gift  sure,  and  then  I  will  go 
away.  I  will  not  come  back  until  thou  art  a 
good  woman — or  dead  !  I  can  do  no  more  for 


THE  HOME  LEFT  DESOLATE.  159 

thee  but  pray  ;  and  may  be  I  can  pray  with  a 
kinder  heart  when  I  am  far  off  from  the  home 
which  thou  hast  made  so  miserable.  God.  for 
give  thee  and  save  thee !  As  for  me,  thou  hast 
pulled  my  life  to  pieces  as  a  child  breaks  a 
toy!" 

"  I  am  glad  I  have !  "  she  screamed.  "  I  am 
glad  thou  art  going  away,  and  I  hope  then  thou 
wilt  never,  never  come  back.  I  hate  thee,  Paul 
Thorsen  ;  and  as  for  the  child,  it  is  my  child, 
and  I  will  have  it,  or  I  will  kill  it.  I  will  that. 
There  now  !  " 

He  put  his  hand  to  his  forehead  and  stag 
gered  blindly  over  the  doorstep  and  across  the 
moor.  When  he  was  very  near  out  of  sight 
Christina  stood  up  suddenly  quiet.  She  be 
came  in  a  moment,  as  it  were,  sane  and  quiet 
and  sober.  Then  she  ran  to  the  gate  and  called 
frantically. 

"  Paul !  Paul  !  Come  back  to  me !  I  did  not 
mean  it.  I  did  not  mean  a  word  of  it.  I  was 
mad,  mad,  mad !  Paul,  Paul,  come  back  !  Come 
back !  " 

But  he  neither  turned  nor  answered  her. 
Indeed,  he  did  not  hear  her.  A  deaf  and 
dumb  stupidity  of  sorrow  possessed  him.  At 


160  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

that  hour  all  his  life  his  love  and  patience 
seemed  to  have  been  barrener  than  ice.  He  was 
in  that  darkness  of  desolation  in  which  vainly 
he  looked  from  grief  to  God — he  could  not  see 
Him. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WHO   SHALL  HAVE  THE  CHILD? 

The  way  to  find  where  to  be  patient,  and  where  to  be  impa 
tient,  is  to  consider  what  is  avoidable  and  what  unavoidable. 

We  prepare  ourselves  for  sudden  deeds  by  the  reiterated 
choice  of  good  or  evil. 

Our  deeds  are  fetters  that  we  forge  ourselves. 

\  LL  so  useless !  All  so  useless  !  "  These 
jf\  were  the  words  that  kept  up  in  Paul's 
heart  their  melancholy  refrain.  Love,  patience, 
self-denial  without  stint  and  without  fail ;  and 
the  end  of  them  sin  and  folly,  aggravated  by  a 
traitorous  deception.  He  was  going  through 
deep  waters  and  all  the  waves  and  the  billows 
went  over  him.  His  first  visit  was  to  Dr.  Logic. 
The  good  man  heard  the  sad  story  with  infinite 
pity  and  regret,  but  he  was  far  from  losing 
heart  as  Paul  had  done. 

"  Now  then,"  he  said,  "  God  has  taken  the 
work  out  of  thy  hands.  He  sees  thou  art  not 
able  for  it.  But  dost  thou  think  He  will  fail  ? 


1 62  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

I  tell  thee  He  will  not.  When  men  are  sure 
things  are  all  going  wrong,  then  it  is  that  they 
are  all  going  right." 

"  I  understand  not." 

"  It  is  not  necessary  for  thee  to  understand. 
Can  a  mortal  man  comprehend  the  ways  of 
Omnipotence?" 

"But  alas,  sir!  if  she  should  die  suddenly! 
If  the  child  should  die !  My  heart  stands  still 
with  the  fear." 

"  Thy  season  may  not  be  God's  season.  God 
can  take  plenty  of  time.  He  is  never  too  soon ; 
and  oh,  my  son,  be  sure  of  this  also — He  is 
never  too  late." 

Long  they  talked  together,  and  doubtless 
Paul  received  the  strength  and  comfort  he 
needed ;  for  when  he  came  out  of  the  manse  he 
looked  clear-eyed  before  him.  He  did  not  go 
home  again,  but  he  remained  at  Voe  Ness  with 
his  mother  for  three  days.  Perhaps  he  hoped 
that  Christina  would  come  to  him  and  say  or 
do  something  which  would  make  it  possible  for 
him  to  stay  with  her. 

As  for  Christina  she  never  believed  that 
Paul  would  really  leave  her.  Often  he  had 
threatened  to  do  so,  but  in  the  end  he  had 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE   THE   CHILD?          163 

always  returned  to  his  home.  And  Helga  was 
of  the  same  opinion.  At  the  first  word  of  her 
daughter's  trouble  she  had  gone  to  her ;  and  at 
this  time  she  did  not  altogether  take  Paul's 
part.  She  was  hurt  at  his  disposal  of  the  child. 
If  it  were  really  necessary  to  take  it  from  the 
mother,  she  thought  then  that  her  claim  was 
before  Margery  Thorsen's.  And  she  could  not 
understand  the  failure  of  Paul's  patience.  "  At 
the  last,"  she  murmured,  "  such  a  step  to  take. 
It  was  not  like  Paul.  All  the  town  he  has  set 
talking.  His  wife  he  has  left  to  the  scorn  of 
both  the  good  and  the  bad.  To  me  first  he 
ought  to  have  come.  I  had  persuaded  him  a 
little  longer  to  bear  with  Christina.  Surely 
while  God  had  patience  his  need  not  have  been 
short.  I  see  that  a  mother's  love  is  stronger 
than  a  husband's.  And  as  for  Margery  Thor- 
sen,  she  liked  not  my  daughter.  She  had 
wrongs  from  her,  and  there  are  few  women  who 
can  give  good  for  evil." 

Thinking  and  feeling  thus,  she  did  not  urge 
upon  the  wretched  mother  and  wife  a  visit  to 
Voe  Ness.  She  thought  it  would  be  better  for 
Paul  to  meet  her  on  his  own  hearth.  There 
no  unfriendly  element  would  interfere  between 


164  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

them.  And  sooner  or  later  she  was  certain 
Paul  would  so  seek  Christina ;  and  she  com 
forted  her  unhappy  child  with  her  own  convic 
tion.  Even  if  he  should  stay  away  a  whole 
week,  Helga  secretly  thought  it  might  be  a 
good  discipline;  for,  in  spite  of  Christina's  folly 
and  weakness,  she  loved  her  child  with  a  pas 
sionate  fervor,  and  she  loved  Paul  as  well,  per 
haps,  as  it  was  in  her  nature  to  love.  Helga's 
and  Christina's  expectation  ended,  however,  in 
a  startling  and  bitter  disappointment ;  for,  on 
the  third  day  after  he  had  left  his  home,  Paul 
sailed  to  Wick  in  order  to  join  a  fleet  of  whal 
ing  vessels  bound  for  the  Greenland  seas. 

The  next  morning  Donald  Groat  notified 
Christina  that  her  husband  had  gone,  and  that 
he  would  pay  her  from  Paul's  wages  ten  shil 
lings  weekly.  Christina  stared  at  the  messenger 
blankly  for  a  moment  and  then  fell  senseless  at 
his  feet.  And  when  consciousness  returned 
there  came  with  it  the  conviction  of  her  loss  and 
her  shame.  Paul  had  really  gone,  really  sailed 
for  Greenland  !  He  might  be  away  for  years. 
He  might  never  come  back.  The  poor  sinful 
wife  was  in  a  state  of  distraction.  She  could 
do  nothing  but  weep  and  moan  over  their  cruel 


WffO  SHALL  HAVE   THE  CHILD?          165 

parting  and  the  last  bitter  words  she  had  said 
to  him. 

But  her  stormy  sorrow  was  very  like  the 
passion  of  a  child.  She  wept  its  first  agony 
away  and  then  began  to  think  what  she  should 
do.  Paul  was  beyond  her  power  and  her  influ 
ence,  and  as  the  days  went  by  a  steady  anger 
against  him  gradually  gathered  in  her  heart. 

"  What  right  had  he  to  take  her  child  from 
her?  She  was  doing  no  wrong  to  the  child. 
It  was  the  New  Year's  holiday.  It  was  a  hard 
case  if  she  could  not  have  a  dance  with  a  friend 
in  a  friend's  house." 

In  this  manner  she  reasoned  away  all  her  con 
victions  of  wrong-doing  and  all  sorrow  for  the 
consequences  of  her  sin. 

She  would  not  listen  to  a  word  against  the 
Sabays.  "  They  were  very  respectable  people. 
Isabel  went  to  church  regularly ;  Sabay  paid 
his  debts  and  was  good  to  the  poor.  No  one 
did  more  for  the  poor.  There  were  worse 
people  than  the  Sabays ;  plenty  of  them !  " 

Even  her  deception  towards  her  husband 
soon  came  to  be  a  venial  sin  in  her  eyes  :  "  It 
wasn't  her  fault  if  Paul  was  so  cruel  and 
unreasonable  that  she  was  obliged  to  take, 


1 66  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

unknown  to  him,  an  hour's  innocent  amuse 
ment."  Every  one  was  to  blame  but  herself 
and  the  Sabays. 

And  one  purpose  grew  with  strength  and 
rapidity  every  day  with  her.  She  would  have 
her  child.  She  was  determined  she  would  have 
it.  It  was  in  vain  that  Helga  told  her  it  had 
been  formally  given  to  Margery  Thorsen  by 
Paul,  and  that  the  magistrate  had  ratified  the 
gift  as  one  necessary  for  the  child's  welfare. 
Christina  laughed  at  the  whole  transac 
tion.  "As  if  any  one  could  give  a  child  away 
from  its  own  mother!"  she  answered,  scorn 
fully. 

She  would  steal  it  away.  To  this  thought 
she  settled  positively  down,  and  hour  after  hour 
she  pleaded  with  her  mother  to  help  her  form 
some  plan  by  which  she  could  get  possession 
of  it.  Once  in  her  arms  she  would  die  rather 
than  resign  it.  She  would  fly  to  Sabay's. 
There  were  men  there  who  would  take  her  part, 
would  fight  for  her  right  if  it  were  necessary.  If 
she  could  do  nothing  else  she  would  fly  to  Hol 
land  with  it.  But  she  felt  certain  that  the 
majority  of  parents  would  stand  by  her. 
"  Why,"  she  exclaimed,  it  would  be  worse  than 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE    THE  CHILD?          167 

Popery  if  the  Church  could  separate  a  mother 
and  her  child  !  " 

She  was  very  angry  at  Dr.  Logic.  "  What 
right  had  he  to  stand  before  the  magistrate  and 
say  she  was  unfit  to  bring  up  her  own  son?" 
She  nursed  such  thoughts  continually.  They 
took  entire  possession  of  her. 

On  the  second  Monday  after  Paul's  departure 
she  went  to  Donald  Groat's  for  her  money. 
When  she  came  back  her  plans  had  altered 
somewhat.  She  had  been  made  to  feel  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner  that  all  the  better 
class  of  citizens  held  her  in  scorn  and  dislike. 
She  could  see  plainly  that  she  would  have  no 
sympathy  from  them.  Women  who  hitherto 
had  always  had  a  civil  salutation  for  her  passed 
her  now  without  notice.  Some  avoided  her.  A 
few  had  open  words  of  contempt  to  fling  at  her. 

There  were  a  number  of  men  in  Donald's 
store  and  Donald's  wife  was  also  there.  Mag 
gie  had  always  been  her  friend.  She  had  had 
a  word  of  excuse  for  her  when  no  one  else 
could  find  one.  Her  kind  womanly  heart  had 
pleaded  more  than  once  with  Paul  himself  in 
her  favor.  Thus,  about  the  trip  to  Holland 
she  had  said  to  him,  "  She  is  only  a  child,  Paul, 


1 68  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

Thou  should  think  of  that.  And  she  has  a  gay 
heart  and  means  no  wrong,  I  think.  Be  patient 
with  her."  So  when  Christina  saw  Maggie  she 
was  glad  for  her  heart  was  wounded  by  the 
scoffing  and  scorn  of  the  women  she  had  met, 
and  she  was  longing  for  a  word  of  kindness  and 
sympathy. 

But  when  Maggie  Groat  saw  Christina  enter 
she  turned  hurriedly  round  and  went  to  the 
other  end  of  the  store.  Christina  could  not  bear 
it.  "Maggie,"  she  cried,  and  she  followed  and 
began  to  excuse  herself.  But  Maggie  sorrow 
fully  shook  her  head.  Then  Christina  got 
angry  and  spoke  with  ill-considered  warmth ; 
and  Donald  felt  himself  obliged  to  interfere. 

"  Go  to  thy  home,"  he  said  sternly.  "  Here 
is  thy  money;  I  am  not  willing  that  thou 
should  speak  to  my  wife  any  any  more.  Mind 
that ! " 

Several  were  standing  round  and  heard  Don 
ald's  remark,  but  no  one  said  a  word  for  her 
except  Olave  Snackoll,  a  man  whom  she  had 
seen  frequently  at  Sabay's. 

"  You  are  a  pack  pf  cowardly  hounds,"  he 
blurted  out,  "  to  bay  a  poor  lass  to  death  for  a 
drink  and  a  dance.  Now  then,  the  first  man 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE    THE   CHILD*          169 

that  speaks  an  unkind  word  to  Christina  Thor- 
sen  I'll  give  him  a  rope-ending  for  it — I  will, 
by- 

Christina  looked  gratefully  at  her  defender 
and  yet  with  a  kind  of  shame.  She  knew  that 
his  advocacy  set  her  still  further  apart.  She 
went  out  of  the  shop  with  a  pale  face  and  a 
throbbing  heart,  and  Paul's  money  in  her  hand 
seemed  to  burn  it.  And  as  she  walked  home  she 
looked  for  no  one's  smile;  nor  did  she  care 
much  for  such  marks  of  disapprobation  as  fell 
to  her.  "  I  will  now  go  to  Isabel,"  she  thought. 
"  Why  should  I  give  up  the  only  people  who  are 
my  friends?  I  will  not  give  them  up!  Everyone 
else  has  the  black  look  and  the  buffet  for  me. 
I  will  care  no  more  about  these  very  good  peo 
ple.  No,  indeed !  I  will  put  myself  under  Isa 
bel  and  Jeppe  Sabay's  protection  and  we  shall 
see  then  who  will  dare  to  say  a  word  against 
me.  They  may  talk  thus  and  so  behind 
Jeppe's  back,  but  even  Donald  Groat  is  civil 
enough  to  his  face.  He  is  that !  " 

That  very  afternoon  she  went  to  see  Isabel, 
and  Isabel  welcomed  her  gladly.  Both  Jeppe 
Sabay  and  his  wife  were  eager  enough  to  help 
her  in  the  recovery  of  her  child ;  or,  for  that 


170  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

matter,  in  any  other  plan  she  might  have  which 
would  annoy  or  thwart  Paul  Thorsen.  That 
he  should  have  taken  it  away  from  their  house 
and  have  deserted  his  wife  for  being  their  guest, 
was  relatively  as  deep  an  affront  to  them  as  to 
Christina  herself.  Sabay  had  talked  loudly  of 
reprisals  for  the  insult,  and  he  and  Isabel  in 
stantly  perceived  how  easily  they  might  reach 
Paul  through  Paul's  son. 

Thus  the  intimacy  was  not  only  renewed,  but 
renewed  on  a  much  more  familiar  basis ;  and 
Christina  was  grateful  for  their  friendship. 
Whatever  people  might  think,  they  did  not  dare 
to  insult  her  when  Sabay  or  his  wife  was  with 
her.  As  for  Helga's  disapproval,  that  was  a 
thing  she  cared  very  little  about.  When  Helga 
said  "  I  will  not  stay  with  thee  if  thou  bring 
Isabel  Sabay  and  her  crowd  around,"  Christina 
answered,  "  I  cannot  help  that.  Thy  crowd 
give  me  nothing  but  the  black  look  and  the  ill 
word  and  the  back  of  their  hand.  Isabel  and 
Jeppe  pity  and  protect  me." 

During  these  days  Christina  did  not  drink  as 
much  as  might  have  been  expected.  The 
greater  desire  controlled  the  less,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  her  whole  existence  was  wound  up  in  one 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE    THE  CHILD t         I?l 

object — the  possession  of  her  baby.  But  it 
was  an  object  composed  of  three  dominant 
passions — mother-love,  revenge,  and  that  rest- 
less  craving  for  change  and  excitement  which 
had  been  steadily  nourished  in  her  heart  by 
reading  foolish  adventurous  tales  and  by  com 
pany  of  the  same  sort. 

She  imagined  herself  the  heroine  of  some 
tragic  story,  and  then  she  began  to  hug  the 
circumstances  of  sin  and  sorrow  surrounding 
her  as  if  they  were  an  evil  fate,  and  she  some 
innocent  and  unfortunate  victim.  Thus  a  sickly 
sentimentality  took  the  place  which  a  genuine 
shame  and  repentance  ought  to  have  occupied. 

And  Sabay  pulled  his  long  moustache  and 
grinned  with  a  quiet  scorn  at  her  heroics  and 
tears  and  romancing.  "  What  a  born  little 
fool  she  is  !  "  he  said  to  his  wife,  contemptu 
ously.  "  There  is  precious  small  fun  in  deceiv 
ing  her." 

"  She  was  always  a  silly  thing,  Jeppe.  And 
yet  to  see  the  way  Paul  Thorsen  went  on  about 
her  you  would  have  thought  she  was  the  one 
fair  woman  in  the  islands." 

Then  Sabay  pulled  his  moustache  a  little 
more  thoughtfully.  "  Well,  well,"  he  said,  "  if 


*72  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

a  woman  is  coined  a  farthing  you  can't  make  a 
sovereign  of  her.  Listen  to  me,  Isabel.  To 
morrow  the  Swallow  will  be  in  port.  See 
Christina  and  tell  her  this.  On  the  next  night 
that  which  she  is  always  talking  about  doing 
must  be  done." 

"  What  else  ?    She  will  ask  me  this  and  that." 

"  Dirke  Biron  and  I  myself  will  go  with  her." 

"  If  the  night  be  stormy,  Jeppe,  what  then  ?  " 

"  Just  the  same.     I  never  take  the  weather 

into  my  plans.     Fair  weather  or  foul  I  carry 

them  out.     Fair  weather  or  foul  we  must  get 

the  child  that  night.     The   Swallow  will   be 

unloaded  and  waiting  at  the  pier.     The  tide 

serves  at  nine  o'clock.     They  may  be  well  on 

the  way  to  Holland  before  daylight." 

The  next  morning  Isabel  called  early  at 
Christina's.  She  found  her  walking  about  the 
floor  under  great  emotion.  She  had  been 
dreaming  of  her  baby  and  of  Margery  Thorsen, 
and  she  was  precisely  in  the  mood  to  let  any 
influence  bearing  upon  this  subject  irritate  and 
excite  her.  She  loved  her  child  and  she  hated 
Margery;  which  feeling  was  the  stronger  it 
would  have  been  sometimes  hard  to  say.  With 
a  pity  in  which  there  was  a  good  deal  of  con- 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE   THE   CHILD?          173 

tempt  Isabel  watched  her  movements  and 
listened  to  her  threats  and  lamentatings. 

"  Why  art  thou  so  easy  satisfied  ? "  she 
asked.  "  If  I  was  in  thy  place  the  child  would 
be  in  my  breast,  and  Margery  Thorsen  walking 
about  with  empty  arms  and  loud  words.  And 
I  wonder  at  thee  !  Crying  over  a  wrong  never 
yet  made  the  wrong  right." 

"  Oh,  then,  I  am  going  to  Margery  Thorsen's 
this  day!  What  follows  will  be  seen  and 
heard  tell  of." 

"  Thou  art  a  fool !  I  will  tell  thee  what  will 
follow.  Margery  will  see  thee  coming  and  will 
bolt  thee  outside  her  door.  Dost  thou  know 
her  cottage  ?  Jeppe  says  there  are  as  many 
as  twenty  cottages  at  Voe  Ness. 

"  I  was  never  at  Voe  Ness,"  answered  Chris 
tina,  sullenly. 

"  From  a  blazing  passion  into  the  sulks ! 
Who  knows  how  to  talk  to  thee  ?  I  think,  also, 
if  my  child  had  been  but  six  miles  away  I  had 
gone  in  the  dark  and  on  the  sly  to  see  if  he 
fared  well  or  ill.  But,  as  Jeppe  says,  women 
are  all  on  a  different  pattern." 

"That  is  easy  said.  If  thou  had  tried  to  do 
it  some  difficulties  would  have  been  found. 


174  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

Until  to-day  there  has  been  no  frost.  The 
road  to  Voe  Ness  in  wet  weather,  even  in  the 
day-light,  is  a  bottomless  road  to  those  who 
know  not  where  to  put  the  feet.  At  night  it 
is  impossible.  Who  was  to  take  me  the  sea 
way?  And  if  I  had  managed  that  way  every 
wife  in  the  village  would  have  been  watching 
and  wondering  what  strange  boat  came,  and 
who  with  it.  So  then  when  I  landed  and  asked 
for  Margery's  cottage,  there  would  have  been 
plenty  to  put  this  and  that  together  and  to 
say  :  '  Well,  Christina  Thorsen,  is  this  really 
thee  ?  And  what  dost  thou  think  of  thyself  ?  ' 
But  to-day  it  is  different.  The  road  is  hard 
frozen ;  a  pony  will  take  me  there  in  one  hour, 
and  as  for  the  women's  ill-will,  I  will  run  my 
risk  of  that.  Surely  some  one  will  show  me 
which  is  Margery  Thorsen's  house." 

"  And  that  is  something  very  important.  I 
will  tell  thee  why.  This  night  Jeppe  and 
Dirke  Biron  will  help  thee  to  get  thy  child. 
They  will  carry  thee  in  the  boat  to  Voe  Ness, 
and  they  will  time  the  journey  so  that  in  the 
dark  and  at  the  supper-hour  they  will  land. 
Here  and  there  they  cannot  wander  seeking 
Margery's  house.  Dirke  and  thee  must  go  to 


WHO  SHALL  HAVE    THE  CHILD?          175 

it  straight.  Then  it  is  something  very  import 
ant  that 'the  way  to  it  is  known  ;  the  quick  and 
the  near  way.  My  advice  is  this  :  Go  at  once 
to  Voe  Ness.  Mark  the  house  well,  and  the 
way  to  it  from  the  landing.  Keep  thy  eyes 
very  quick  and  bright,  for  much  will  depend 
upon  such  knowledge." 

"To-night!     So  soon  !     Is  it  true?" 

"  Yes  ;  art  thou  glad  or  not  ?  " 

"  I  wish  it  were  this  hour." 

"  The  Swallow  leaves  for  Rotterdam  at  nine 
o'clock.  If  this  wind  last  thou  and  thy  boy 
may  be  a  long  way  nearer  to  Holland  by  day 
light.  Jcppe  is  going  with  thee.  Thou  art 
his  passenger,  and  who  shall  hinder  him  from 
taking  his  price  if  he  have  the  offer?  A  skip 
per  is  there  to  take  his  boat  from  port  to 
port." 

"  And  at  Rotterdam  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

"  Thou  wilt  go  to  the  Nassau  Arms.  To  that 
inn  many  English  come,  and  much  English  is 
used  ;  very  well,  one  who  can  serve  and  speak 
it  is  very  necessary.  This  place  is  a  good  place, 
and  Jeppe  has  the  promise  of  it  for  thee.  But, 
indeed,  if  thou  wert  a  woman  of  spirit  thou 
would  not  ask  me,  '  what  shall  I  do  ?  '  With 


I7  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

thy  child  to  feed,  thou  would  find  the  work 
that  is  fit  for  thee." 

"  Always  with  a  hard  word  thou  ends  every 
thing,  Isabel." 

"  It  is  for  thy  good.  But  the  first  thing  is 
the  best  thing,  and  that  is  thy  ride  to  Voe  Ness 

• 

See  that  thou  make  all  clear  in  thy  own  mind, 
for  if  there  is  any  failure  through  thee,  Jeppe 
Sabay  will  be  thy  enemy  forever.  He  is  not 
used  to  have  things  go  wrong  with  him." 

"  I  will  do  my  part.     Fear  not !  " 

"  At  six  to-night  thou  art  to  be  watching. 
The  boat  will  be  ready  and  the  men  waiting." 

"  Listen.  If  I  go  to  Voe  Ness  to-day,  will 
they  not  be  suspicious  and  more  careful  to 
night,  perhaps  even  on  the  watch?" 

"  Little  thou  knows  of  men  and  women 
When  thou  hast  been  once  there  to-day,  It  is 
not  likely  they  will  look  for  thee  back.  And 
if  thou  go  now  by  the  road  they  will  not  think 
of  thee  coming  by  the  sea  at  night  time.  So 
then  to  visit  Margery  Thorsen  to-day  is  the 
best  way  to  leave  an  open  door  for  to-night." 

"  Well,  thy  words  are  in  a  good  season  ;  for 
here  comes  Skade's  boy  with  the  pony." 

"  Then  J  will  go  ;  forget  not  to-night  at  six  " 


WHO   SHALL  HAVE    THE   CHILD?          1 77 

"At  six  ;  no  one  will  wait  for  me  a  minute." 

It  was  a  cold,  clear  day,  with  that  gray  look 
in  the  north  which  prefigured  a  coming  snow 
storm.  But  Christina  thought  not  of  that ;  she 
was  satisfied  when  she  found  the  road  over  the 
moor  hard  enough  to  bear  the  pony's  light  feet. 
The  little  creature  had,  moreover,  a  wonderful 
instinct  concerning  moss  land,  and  he  picked 
his  way  with  a  sagacity  which  might  even  have 
been  trusted  in  the  dark. 

When  she  reached  Voe  Ness  her  heart  sank 
a  little.  The  small,  heather-thatched  cottages 
were  scattered  about  in  the  coves  of  the  rough 
coast,  and  a  more  lonely  looking  hamlet  in  the 
bleak  winter  weather  it  would  have  been  hard 
to  find.  There  was  a  solitary  post  at  the  out 
skirts  of  the  moor,  which  had  probably  been 
put  there  for  the  purpose  of  securing  ponies, 
and  she  tied  hers  to  it  and  walked  forward  to 
the  cottages.  Several  women  had  noticed  her, 
and  she  went  frankly  to  the  nearest  and  asked 
for  Margery's  cottage.  It  was  civilly  pointed 
out,  and  Christina  was  glad  to  find  that  it  was 
very  close  to  the  sea,  and  rather  apart  from  any 
others. 

The  door  was  shut ;   she  opened  it  without 


178  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

ceremony.  Margery  was  cleaning  some  fish  at 
a  table  ;  she  looked  up,  let  the  knife  in  her 
hand  fall,  and  lifted  the  child  who  was  playing 
on  a  sheepskin  rug  before  the  fire. 

At  the  sight  of  his  fair  sweet  face,  Christina 
burst  into  passionate  weeping  and  entreaties. 
And  the  child  remembered  her  also,  and 
stretched  out  his  arms  and  called  her  in  the 
pretty  cooing  way  so  delightful  and  so  intelli 
gible  to  a  mother's  heart. 

"  Let  me  hold  him  in  my  arms,  Margery 
Thorsen  !  One  moment  let  me  hold  him,  I  pray 
thee  !  " 

Margery  was  in  a  hard  strait.  For  a  few  min 
utes  she  resisted  Christina's  prayers  and  tears ; 
but  they  were  so  well  seconded  by  the  baby's 
cries  that  at  length  she  suffered  the  longing 
mother  to  clasp  her  boy  in  her  arms.  Still, 
Margery  was  suspicious.  She  knew  the  woman 
with  whom  she  had  to  deal — she  kept  her  eyes 
upon  her  face;  and  when  she  saw  Christina  glance 
quickly  and  furtively  at  the  door,  she  went  to 
it  and  loudly  called  her  daughter,  Nanna.  Sev 
eral  other  women  were  in  sight  also  and  they 
answered  the  imperative  beckoning  of  her  hand 
at  once.  So,  in  a  moment  or  two,  Margery's 


WHO   SHALL  HAVE    THE   CHILD?          *79 

cottage  was  filled  with  her  neighbors,  strong, 
resolute  women,  quite  able  and  quite  willing  to 
defend  Margery's  rights. 

Christina  saw  her  position  at  once,  but  with 
the  promise  of  the  night's  triumph  before  her 
she  could  afford  to  wait  patiently.  It  even 
pleased  her  to  affect  an  overwhelming  penitence 
and  affection  ;  her  humility  and  self-condemna 
tion  was  touching.  It  made  Margery  Thorsen 
herself  sorry  for  her.  And  one  tender-hearted 
woman  proposed  that  Christina  should  come  to 
Voe  Ness  and  live  with  Margery,  and  so  have 
a  share  in  the  care  of  the  child. 

"  It  would  be  a  great  help  to  thee,  Margery," 
she  pleaded ;  "  and  I  think  also  that  thy  son 
Paul  would  not  object." 

And  though  Margery  shook  her  head  she  was 
full  of  sympathy,  and  she  said  kindly  ;  "  Come 
again,  come  often,  Christina,  and  see  thy  child. 
I  do  not  wish  that  he  should  forget  thee.  No, 
indeed !  And  if  thou  art  truly  sorry  for  thy 
faults,  then  together  sometimes  we  can  watch 
and  pray  for  Paul's  return." 

Upon  the  whole  Christina  left  a  very  favora 
ble  impression  in  the  village — one  so  favorable, 
that  it  was  almost  a  wrong  to  Margery.  Her 


I  So  £AUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

childlike  manner  and  face  disarmed  reproaches 
and  bespoke  a  kind  of  pity  ;  especially  when 
taken  in  connection  with  her  tears  and  con 
fessions,  her  protestations  and  regrets.  She 
felt  thoroughly  pleased  with  her  performance 
as  she  went  home.  She  had  left  with  Mar 
gery's  permission  to  come  again  in  a  week. 
She  was  quite  certain  no  one  would  dream  of 
her  returning  in  a  few  hours. 


CHAPTER    XL 

WELL  WITH  THE  CHILD. 

The  Power  that  ministers  to  God's  decrees 

And  executes  on  earth  what  He  forsees, 

Called  Providence, — 

Comes  with  resistless  force,  and  finds  or  makes  its  way 

An  unseen  Hand  makes  all  our  Moves. 

Fate,  and  the  dooming  gods  are  deaf  to  tears. 

— Dryden. 
******* 

The  little  feet  that  never  trod 
Earth,  never  strayed  in  field  or  street, 
What  hand  leads  upward  back  to  God 

The  little  feet  ? 
****** 

Oh,  but  the  strength  of  regrets  that  strain  and  sicken 
Yearning  for  Love  that  the  veil  of  death  endears, 
Slackens  not  wing  for  the  wings  of  years  that  quicken 
Years  upon  years. 

WHEN  Christina  arrived  at  her  own  home, 
the  short  winter  afternoon  was  over. 
It  was  quite  dark  and  there  was  a  soft,  thin 
drizzle  of  snow,  that,  as  yet,  melted  as  it  fell. 
She  was  glad  to  see  there  was  no  light  in  the 
kitchen,  for  its  absence  assured  her  that  Helga 
was  not  there  to  embarrass  her  preparations. 


1 82  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

Indeed,  ever  since  Isabel  had  resumed  her  visits 
the  old  woman  had  gone  less  and  less  to  her 
daughter's  house.  She  could  not  shut  the  door 
against  Christina's  visitors,  and  yet  she  disliked 
their  company  quite  as  much  as  they  objected 
to  her  grave  and  melancholy  face  and  manner. 
But  sometimes  Helga  came  just  before  dark, 
and  stayed  out  the  long  nights  with  her 
daughter.  Christina  had  been  fearing  such  a 
visit  that  night  ;  she  could  hardly  have  sent 
her  mother  home,  and  if  she  were  present  the 
most  necessary  preparations  for  her  voyage 
might  have  roused  suspicion. 

"  All  is  dark,  and  I  shall  not  have  any  one  to 
watch  and  wonder  over  me.  Thank  God  for 
that !  "  she  said,  with  that  sinful  inappropriate- 
ness  which  so  often  accompanies  the  ejacula 
tion  from  the  mouth  of  the  thoughtless  and 
irreverent. 

She  turned  loose  the  pony  and  entered  her 
house.  "  It  is  the  last  time,  and  I  am  glad  of 
it !  Much  sorrow  and  disappointment  and  suf 
fering  have  I  had  under  this  roof !  In  Holland 
at  the  Nassau  Arms,  there  will  be  something 
to  be  seen  and  to  be  heard — and  I  shall  have 
my  child  !  In  spite  of  all  of  them — minister 


WELL    WITH  THE   CHILD.  183 

and  magistrate,  Margery  and  Paul — I  shall  have 
my  child  !  How  I  deceived  every  one  this  after 
noon  !  Dirke  Biron  is  quite  right,  I  must  be  a 
very  clever  woman — I  think,  indeed,  I  shall  do 
great  things  in  Holland." 

So  she  mused,  as  she  drew  the  peats  together 
and  put  on  the  kettle  for  her  tea.  It  was  then 
four  o'clock,  and  she  had  much  to  do,  and  was 
not  anxious  to  call  attention  to  her  movements. 
Her  stock  of  money  was  low,  but  she  had  some 
fine  clothing,  and  she  could  on  no  account 
think  of  going  without  part  of  it.  Yet  Isabel 
had  said  nothing  on  the  subject,  and  she  could 
think  of  no  way  to  get  a  trunk  carried  on 
board  The  Swallow.  Her  mortification  at  this 
part  of  the  Sabays'  thoughtlessness  was  veiy 
great. 

"  They  could  so  easily  have  sent  a  sailor  from 
The  Swallow  for  my  clothes,  and  if  Isabel  had 
been  herself  going,  she  would  not  have  for 
gotten  ;  "  she  muttered,  nearly  crying  in  her 
vexation  at  this  oversight.  However,  she 
made  a  large  bundle  of  such  garments  as  she 
valued  most,  and  then  she  began  to  lock  away 
such  of  her  household  treasures  as  she  could 
in  the  big  sea-chests  and  the  wall-presses.  For 


1 84  PAUL  AND    CHRISTINA. 

nothing  is  more  remarkable  about  such  friend 
ships  as  the  one  existing  between  Isabel  and 
Christina  as.  their  complete  and  apparently  un 
reasonable  want  of  faith  and  confidence. 
Christina  was  willing  to  trust  herself  and  her 
child  to  the  Sabay's  care  and  direction,  but  she 
had  many  doubts  and  anxieties  about  her  half- 
spun  linen  and  blankets,  and  her  personal 
effects,  and  china  and  furniture. 

However,  she  left  a  letter  on  the  table  for  her 
mother,  putting  all  things  under  her  charge 
until  her  return.  She  said  nothing  of  her 
plans,  or  of  her  destination,  and  she  threw  the 
whole  blame  of  her  proceedings  upon  those 
who  had  "  so  cruelly  outraged  her  mother-love 
for  her  own  child."  She  knew  well  that  on  this 
point  she  had  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  from 
Helga,  and  she  believed  also  that  many  other 
women  would  judge  her  leniently,  and  think 
the  step  she  had  taken  a  justifiable  one.  "  Why, 
even  Jane  Sinclair  said  it  was  a  hard  thing  to 
take  the  child  from  its  mother's  breast — and 
Jane  was  one  of,  them  that  thought  Paul  was 
made  without  faults." 

She  was  too  excited  to  eat,  but  she  forced 
herself  to  take  some  hot  tea,  and  then  she 


WELL    WITH   THE   CHILD.  185 

carefully  extinguished  the  fire  and  light. 
Standing  by  the  little  window  in  the  dark 
room,  the  minutes  pressed  heavily  and  fearfully 
upon  her  heart.  She  thought  the  hour  would 
never  strike.  Down  upon  the  shingle,  just 
below  the  house,  Paul  had  built  a  small  jetty 
or  pier  for  his  own  convenience,  andSabayhad 
sent  her  word  the  boat  would  be  there  at  six 
o'clock.  Restlessly  she  wandered  from  the 
window  to  the  door,  uncertain,  fearful,  and 
more  depressed  than  she  knew  by  the  absence 
of  fire  and  light  upon  her  hearth,  and  by  the 
cold  and  gloom  outside.  For  the  snow  was 
now  heavier,  and  the  whole  moor  had  become 
white  and  spectral ;  the  lonely  huts  rising  up 
black  and  well  defined,  like  islands  in  a  spell 
bound  sea. 

At  length  she  saw  a  lantern  lifted  three 
times.  It  was  the  sign  agreed  upon.  With  a 
sentimental  sigh  for  her  own  hard  fate,  she  shut 
the  door  of  her  home,  and  in  a  few  minutes  was 
in  the  boat.  Biron  helped  her  into  it  with  a 
remark  about  the  snow ;  Sabay  grumbled  at  the 
big  bundle  of  clothing  a  little,  but  there  was 
no  conversation,  for  the  men  were  naturally 
silent  at  sea,  and  Christina  was  wrought  up  to 


1 86  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

a  pitch  of  excitement  far  beyond  the  capacity 
of  her  ordinary  speech. 

She  was  not  afraid,  however,  dark  and  stormy 
as  it  was.  Sabay  knew  the  coast  as  well  as  he 
knew  his  own  room  ;  Biron  could  have  sailed  it 
blindfold.  And  when  they  reached  Voe  Ness, 
the  men  were  all  in  for  the  night :  every  cottage 
door  was  shut,  and  from  every  cottage  window 
the  light  of  the  evening  fire  or  lamp  streamed 
through  the  small  square  of  glass. 

Christina  had  noted  well  the  position  of  Mar 
gery  Thorscn's  cottage.  She  went  straight  to 
it.  Biron  walked  silently  by  her  side  ;  Sabay 
stayed  in  the  boat.  The  small  window  was  un 
curtained,  except  by  some  pots  of  flowers  on  a 
shelf,  and  Margery  was  sitting  by  the  fire.  She 
had  not  lit  the  lamp,  but  in  the  glow  of  the  red 
peat,  sat  knitting.  The  whole  room  was  easily 
seen  ;  and  Biron  in  a  glance  took  notice  of 
everything  that  concerned  the  object  of  their 
visit. 

He  perceived  that  it  was  a  large,  comfortable 
room,  with  a  homely  beauty  of  its  own.  The 
bed,  gay  with  patchwork,  stood  in  one  corner ; 
he  saw  that  the  child  was  not  in  it.'  The  walls 
were  tinted  ochre,  and  bright  with  pewter  and 


WELL    WITH   THE   CHILD.  187 

crockery,  and  before  the  hearth  there  was  a 
large  sheepskin  rug.  Just  on  the  edge  of  the 
rug  was  a  wooden  cradle  ;  pne  of  those  low, 
old-fashioned  cradles  with  a  kind  of  wooden 
hood  to  shield  the  child's  head,  and  large,  broad 
rockers.  In  this  cradle  Christina's  baby  was 
lying  fast  asleep. 

She  hid  herself  behind  a  stack  of  peats  at  the 
corner  of  the  cottage.  Biron  knocked  at  the 
door.  When  Margery  opened  it,  he  said ; 
"  Good  mother,  let  me  warm  and  dry  myself 
at  thy  fire  ;  and  give  me  a  cup  of  tea,  if  thou 
wilt." 

He  had  a  frank  face,  and  a  pleasant  way,  and 
Margery's  kind  heart  was  easily  touched. 
"  Come  in,  and  welcome ! "  she  answered.  Then 
she  shut  the  door,  and  put  a  chair  upon  the 
sheepskin,  and  went  into  the  little  room  behind 
the  houseplace,  to  light  her  lamp,  get  some 
more  peats,  and  fill  the  kettle. 

She  was  not  away  three  minutes,  but  during 
them  Biron  handed  out  the  child  to  the  waiting 
mother,  re-arranged  the  cradle,  and  drew  his 
chair  into  such  a  position  as  to  shadow  the 
head  of  it. 

Margery  suspected  nothing.     She  let  Biron 


1 88  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

help  her  to  build  up  the  fire,  and  as  she  brewed 
him  a  pot  of  tea,  and  toasted  a  herring  and  a 
barley  cake,  he  talked  to  her  of  her  son  Paul, 
with  whom  he  had  once  made  a  voyage  to 
Iceland.  He  had  found  the  subject  of  which 
Margery  never  tired.  He  told  her  stories 
of  Paul's  bravery,  of  his  unselfishness,  his 
kind  heart  and  helpful  ways  ;  and  when  he 
said  :  "  To  have  sailed  with  Paul  Thorsen  is 
something  good  to  think  about,"  Margery's  face 
was  shining  with  love,  and  happy  tears  filling 
her  eyes  almost  to  overflowing. 

Yet ;  though  Biron  talked,  he  ate  and  drank 
with  haste,  and  Margery  was  sorry  that  he 
would  not  stay  in  the  village  all  night.  "  The 
moor  is  dangerous,"  she  said,  "  and  my  son-in 
law  will  gladly  give  thee  a  rug  by  the  fireside — 
that  is  better  than  the  snow." 

"  I  know  the  moor  well,  mother ;  every  step 
of  it,  I  know  ;  and,  besides,  as  thou  seest,  I 
have  my  lantern.  If  I  hurry  not  away  I  shall 
lose  my  ship,  and  that  is  not  a  thing  a  good 
sailor  likes  to  do." 

So  he  rose  to  go,  and  Margery  buttoned  his 
big  pilot  coat,  and  going  to  a  drawer,  took  from 
it  a  warm  comforter. 


WELL    WITH   THE   CHILD.  189 

"  Thou  wear  this,"  she  said,  "  for  thou  hast 
sailed  with  my  Paul,  and  so  then,  thou  art  wel 
come  to  me.  It  will  keep  the  cold  blast  from 
thee  a  little  ;  "  and  Biron  suffered  her  to  tie  it 
round  his  neck,  though  as  he  told  Sabay  after 
wards,  "  he  felt  about  as  mean  as  if  it  was  the 
hangman's  rope." 

He  had  not  gone  twenty  yards  when  he  heard 
a  wild  shriek,  and  Margery  flung  open  her  door 
and  called  him  back.  He  did  not  answer  her, 
and  very  soon  other  doors  were  flung  open,  and 
there  was  a  hubbub  of  men's  voices,  and  the 
flashing  of  lanterns  in  the  hands  of  people  hur 
rying  hither  and  thither. 

He  was  very  quickly  overtaken,  but  his  well- 
assumed  shock  and  amazement,  and  his  frank 
denial,  quite  disarmed  all  suspicion  regarding 
him.  Yet  he  had  half  a  mind  to  tell  the  truth, 
when  one  of  the  men  said  pitifully:  "The  little 
fellow  is  sick,  too  ;  he  has  had  a  cold  and  a 
fever  all  day.  The  fever  was  very  high  ere  he 
fell  asleep." 

"  His  mother,  then  came  to  see  him  this 
afternoon,  and  he  cried  much  when  she  went 
away." 

•"  The  fever  may  have  gone  to  his  brain  then." 


190  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"Ay,  and  the  poor  child  may  have  crept  out 
of  his  cradle  into  the  dark  night." 

"  Margery  says  that  is  not  possible ;  he  could 
not  open  the  door." 

"  And  yet  how  else  ?  Margery  must  have 
left  the  door  open."  So  the  searchers  divided 
themselves,  into  three  parties,  and  examined 
every  foot  of  ground  that  it  was  possible  for  a 
child  to  have  reached.  Others,  who  held  to 
the  opinion  that  the  child  had  been  stolen,  took 
the  different  routes  across  the  moor,  slowly 
and  hopelessly  fighting  their  way  against  the 
increasing  snow-storm.  But  nobody  thought  of 
the  sea  way,  or  their  swift  boats,  well  manned, 
could  have  easily  overtaken  Sabay,  who  had 
also  to  contend  with  an  adverse  wind  and  the 
snow  in  his  face. 

Christina,  upon  receiving  her  child  from 
Biron,  had  folded  it  up  completely  in  a  coat  of 
skins,  and  fled  with  it  to  the  boat.  The  child 
was  struggling  and  crying  hoarsely  ere  it  put 
off  from  the  shore,  but  the  noise  was  quickly 
lost  in  the  beating  of  the  surf.  Something, 
however,  about  the  child's  crying  startled  her, 
and  she  partially  uncovered  its  face  and  bent  to 
it.  Its  breathing  was  short  imd  labored  ;  its 


WELL    WITH    THE   CHILD.  191 

face  very  hot.  A  sharp  fear  smote  her  heart, 
and  she  listened  with  painful  intentness  to 
every  respiration. 

When  they  were  about  half  way  the  child  had 
a  paroxysm,  the  character  of  which  was  beyond 
doubt. 

"  Croup  !  "  said  Sabay  in  a  terrified  voice ; 
"  and  now  then,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

What  indeed !  on  the  dark  sea,  the  wind  and 
the  waves  rapidly  rising ,  the  snow,  and  the 
spindrift  in  their  faces  ? 

The  wretched  mother  bent  over  the  agonized 
child  in  an  agony  as  great  as  its  own.  Sabay 
strained  at  the  oars  like  a  giant,  but  he  knew 
of  no  cove  or  inlet  fit  for  landing  where  there 
was  any  human  help  at  hand.  Christina's  own 
house  was  the  very  nearest  shelter  they  could 
reach.  She  had  resolved  never  to  return  there. 
She  had  congratulated  herself  when  she  shut 
its  door  behind  her  ;  but  oh?  how  she  longed 
for  it  now.  She  thought  every  moment  an 
hour  until  they  touched  the  jetty ;  then  she 
fled  at  her  utmost  speed  to  its  warmth  with  her 
sick  child. 

"  Thou  put  him  in  a  hot  bath  at  once,  and  I 
will  go  for  thy  mother  and  the  doctor,"  said 


192  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

Sabay  ;  and  then  he  hurried  off  in  the  direction 
of  the  town. 

Unfortunately,  as  she  had  not  intended  to 
come  back  to  her  house,  the  fire  was  out.  The 
things  she  wanted  were  not  in  their  usual  place  ; 
she  had  forgotten  where  she  had  put  them  ;  in 
her  distress  she  could  find  nothing  she  wanted. 
The  peats  would  not  kindle,  the  water  had 
been  left  outside  and  was  frozen  ;  she  felt  as  if 
she  was  in  an  evil  dream,  struggling  with 
impossibilities.  At  last  in  a  passion  of  weeping 
she  abandoned  the  effort,  and  lifting  the  suffer 
ing  babe  she  held  it  to  her  breast  in  despair. 
Oh  !  in  that  hour,  how  she  longed  for  the  heart 
and  the  arm  of  Paul  to  lean  upon. 

It  was  not  very  long  until  Helga  came,  but  it 
seemed  to  Christina  an  interminable  space  of 
wretchedness.  She  was  white  with  snow,  and 
pallid  with  fear  and  the  exertion  of  making  her 
way  against  the  storm.  From  Sabay  she  had 
heard  as  much  of  the  sad  story  as  was  necessary 
to  account  for  the  extremity  she  was  needed 
in,  and  she  stopped  not  to  ask  questions,  or 
even  to  offer  consolation. 

Her  deft  hands  soon  kindled  the  turfs,  and 
Christina  gave  a  sob  of  gratitude  when  she  saw 


WELL  WITH  THE  CHILD,  193 

once  more  the  red  glow  upon  the  hearth — the 
hearth  which  she  had  purposely  made  cold  and 
desolate.  Helga  had  a  sad  knowledge  of  the 
disease  from  which  the  child  was  suffering  ;  it 
had  strangled  two  of  her  own  little  ones.  She 
entered  into  the  fight  against  it  with  all  her 
heart  and  all  her  strength.  She  knew  what  was 
to  be  done  and  she  did  it  with  a  wonderful 
rapidity.  But  though  she  spoke  hopefully  to 
Christina,  it  was  evident  that  she  was  anxious 
and  fearful.  She  went  often  to  the  door  ;  sha 
could  not  avoid  murmuring  wishes  for  the  doc. 
tor's  arrival,  with  broken  prayers  for  the  pity 
and  help  of  God.  It  was  midnight  when  the 
physician  came,  though  Sabay  had  indeed 
spared  no  trouble  to  find  and  bring  him  to  the 
sick  child. 

He  entered  the  cottage  like  a  Fate,  weary 
and  wet,  and  not  in  much  sympathy  with 
Christina  ;  for  Sabay  had  thought  it  best  to 
tell  him  the  whole  truth.  Sternly  he  looked  at 
the  white-faced  mother,  and  pityingly  at 
the  flushed,  gasping  little  sufferer  in  her 
arms. 

"  Too  late  !  "  he  said,  "  he  is  dying." 

"  Oh,    no,    no,    no ! "     shrieked     Christina. 


194  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  Save  him  !  Save  him  !  Thou  can  save  him  ! 
Yes,  thou  can !  " 

"  Be  quiet,  woman  !  I  cannot  save  him.  He 
may  live  an  hour.  He  may  live  until  dawn. 
No  human  power  can  save  him.  God  pity  him  ! 
God  help  and  release  him  !  " 

Then  Helga  spoke  :  "  If  this  be  so,  run 
thou  for  the  minister.  Run  for  him,  quick! 
The  child  is  not  baptized  !  Oh,  my  God,  the 
child  is  not  baptized  !  " 

"  What  kind  of  woman  are  you  ?  "  he  asked, 
angrily.  But  he  mounted  his  pony  and  rode 
away  at  his  utmost  speed. 

Then  the  terror  and  the  suffering  deepened 
every  moment.  It  was  soon  beyond  the 
mother's  power  to  witness.  She  laid  the  child 
in  Helga's  arms,  and  fled  into  another  room, 
out  of  the  sight  and  sound  of  the  death  agony. 
Forced  down,  by  Sorrow's  hand,  upon  her  knees, 
her  first  distracted  imploration  was  that  God 
would  remove  her  child  from  its  suffering. 
Just  then  her  mother  heart  could  think  of 
nothing  but  the  hopeless  intensity  of  its  physi 
cal  anguish. 

Ah  !  there  are  hours  even  in  this  life,  in 
which  the  sinful  soul  tastes  of  the  unutterable 


WELL  WITH  THE  CHILD.  19$ 

woe  of  an  hereafter  filled  with  a  repentance 
which  availeth  nothing ! 

So,  minute  by  minute  of  that  awful  night  was 
a  separate  torture  to  Christina.  Wringing  her 
hands,  restlessly  walking  to  and  fro ;  now  on 
her  knees,  now  at  the  window ;  moaning,  shiv 
ering,  weeping,  she  endured  the  full  chastise 
ment  she  had  brought  upon  herself. 

"  And  the  minister  comes  not !  "  These  words 
she  kept  repeating  in  a  dull,  despairing  voice, 
or  else  in  a  passion  of  reproachful  entreaties. 
"  My  poor  baby,  what  has  he  done  ?  How 
cruel  to  him  !  Oh,  the  dreadful  outside  dark 
ness  !  My  little  one  shut  out  in  it !  I  cannot 
bear  it !  What  shall  I  do  ?  What  shall  I  do  ?  " 

At  length,  on  the  eastern  horizon  there  was  a 
pallor  of  light ;  that  early  shudder  of  dawn 
which  detaches  so  many  lives — that  mysterious 
hour  when  all  the  fires  of  nature  burn  low  and 
the  dying  cease  to  struggle.  Then  Helga 
touched  her  sadly,  and  when  Christina  raised 
her  woeful  face  she  said.  "  It  is  over.  He  is 
dead ! " 

"Dead!"  Helga  was  appalled  by  the  for 
lorn  misery  with  which  the  wretched  mother 
echoed  the  words. 


196  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"Dead!  And  the  minister  has  not  been?" 
She  asked  the  question  more  with  her  eyes 
than  with  her  tongue,  for  the  words  shivered  to 
pieces  upon  her  parted  lips. 

Helga  could  only  shake  her  head.  Her  heart 
was  full  of  an  awful  resignation.  She  went  and 
stood  beside  the  little  one,  about  whom  there 
had  been  such  anger  and  heart-burning.  He 
had  been  fondly  loved,  and  yet  he  had  "  sepa 
rated  dear  friends."  Paul  and  Christina,  Mar 
gery  and  herself,  had  said  hard  things,  and  felt 
bitterness  toward  each  other,  because  of  him ; 
and  now,  where  were  all  their  claims  ?  "  The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  him  away." 
Yes,  somehow,  when  all  was  thought  and  said, 
in  spite  of  catechism  and  creed,  she  trusted  "it 
was  well  with  the  child."  And  what  she 
"  hoped  "  she  tried  with  all  her  soul  to  believe. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  MINISTER'S  WIFE  SPEAKS. 

Have  not  we,  too  ?    Yes  ;  we  have 
Answers,  and  we  know  not  whence  ; 

Echoes  from  beyond  the  grave  — 
Recognised  Intelligence. 

Remorse  is  the  chastisement  of  crime  ;  repentance  is  iU 
expiation.  The  first  belongs  to  a  troubled  conscience  ;  the 
other  to  a  soul  changed  for  the  better.— 


IS  it  a  thing  impossible  or  incredible  that  the 
enfranchised  spirit,  ere  it  treads  the  star- 
sown  spaces  which  lead  to  brighter  constella 
tions,  should  linger  a  little  while  on  the  earth 
to  look  once  more  on  some  beloved  face  or 
spot,  to  convey  some  intelligence  that  it  only 
can  take  ?  Many  such  traditions  the  world  has  ; 
thousands  more  have  been  jealously  guarded  in 
reverent  hearts  and  never  communicated.  Cer 
tainly,  about  the  hour  of  the  child's  death, 
Paul  saw  him.  He  was  keeping  the  mid-watch 
alone  ;  his  mates  were  all  asleep.  The  ship 
was  slowly  making  her  way  through  the  bleak 


I9&  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

Arctic  waters.  It  was  a  calm  night,  lit  by 
myriads  of  wondrous  stars,  and  there  were  no 
sounds  in  all  the  lonely  world  but  the  roll  of 
the  great  waves  and  the  sighing  of  the  wind  in 
the  canvas. 

Paul  was  not  distinctly  thinking  of  his  home ; 
he  had  turned  his  face  to  the  north,  and  was 
looking  for  some  sign  of  changing  weather. 
Suddenly  there  was  his  boy's  face.  It  was  a 
little  above  and  before  him,  and  it  grew  out  of 
the  surrounding  gloom  as  fair  and  clear  as  the 
stars  grow  out  of  the  darkness.  It  was  there 
and  it  was  gone — in  a  moment ;  but,  oh  !  how 
full  of  love  and  mightiest  comfort  had  been  the 
revelation ! 

"  My  little  lad  is  dead ! "  Never  did  Paul 
doubt  that  fact.  The  thing  was  beyond  reason, 
but  it  was  sure  as  the  stars  above  him.  "  He 
came  to  make  me  certain  of  his  remembrance 
and  his  blessedness  !  I  have  seen!"  And  for 
a  few  minutes  his  soul  was  thrilled  with  a  rap- 
ture  higher  than  earth  can  give.  The  child's 
gain  was  so  apparent  he  hardly  considered  his 
own  loss. 

And,  indeed,  his  first  personal  feelings  and 
thoughts  were  given  to  Christina  and  not  to  his 


THE  MINISTER'S   WIFE  SPEAKS.         199 

child.  "  Poor  Christina  !  Poor  Christina  !  " 
The  words,  only  half-formed  upon  his  lips,  called 
up  a  thousand  memories  of  the  woman  he  loved, 
loved  dearer — he  knew  it  then — than  his  own 
life.  He  cast  his  eyes  down  to  his  broad  left 
shoulder,  for  he  almost  thought  to  see  her  rosy 
face  upon  it — surely  he  felt  it  there  ! 

How  she  must  have  suffered  in  the  boy's 
death  !  He  wondered  if  she  had  been  near  to 
him.  Surely  his  mother  would  send  for  her  in 
such  an  hour.  Many  a  sad  conjecture  he 
formed,  and  every  one  brought  Christina  nearer 
to  him.  He  had  been  very  angry  with  her, 
and  his  heart  very  hard  towards  her,  but  all 
the  anger  was  gone — gone  and  he  knew  not 
how.  He  longed  to  be  with  her,  and  to  com 
fort  her. 

But  alas  !  he  had  put  impassable  bars  between 
them.  He  could  not  even  write  her  a  letter. 
For  a  long  time  they  must  be  really  as  far  apart 
as  if  the  ocean  were  a  grave  between  them. 
Then,  with  the  consideration  of  earthly  wrong 
and  earthly  sorrow,  came  sadness  and  regret. 
He  thought  of  his  desolate  home,  and  of  the 
broken  hopes  and  slain  faith  that  filled  its  empty 
chambers,  with  unavailing  tears.  And  he  felt 


200  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

that  if  Christina  had  wounded  love  by  folly  and 
treachery,  he  also  had  wounded  it  by  the  nar 
rowness  of  his  trust  and  the  limitations  of  his 
patience.  At  that  hour  he  knew  that  he  would 
have  been  better  at  the  side  of  his  wife,  far 
better  than  in  the  lonely  peace  of  the  ark  in 
which  he  had  shut  himself. 

There  is  no  fact  in  life  more  solemnly  strange 
than  the  apparent  jarring  of  its  elements.  Life 
and  death,  joy  and  sorrow,  dreamy  reflection 
and  physical  prowess,  touch  each  other  without 
our  bespeaking.  Into  the  midst  of  Paul's  re 
gretful  memories  and  solemn  apprehendings 
came  suddenly  the  urgent  call  for  the  boats  and 
the  harpoons,  and  all  the  tumult  of  a  strife 
such  as  giants  of  the  sea  and  giants  of  the  land 
must  wage  for  the  mastery. 

And  far  off  in  the  lonely  islands,  where 
Christina  was  sitting  in  a  maze  of  despairing 
grief,  Dr.  Logic  was  wondering  over  the  same 
ever-recurring  antithesis.  He  had  gone  the 
previous  evening  some  miles  into  the  interior 
to  solemnise  a  marriage.  He  had  not  intended 
to  return  until  the  following  day,  and  the 
doctor's  appeal  roused  him  from  sleep,  and 
bbnded  in  his  ears  with  the  gay  notes  of  the 


THE  MINISTERS   WIFE  SPEAKS.         20 1 

violins  speeding  mirthfully  away  the  last  of  the 
wedding  guests. 

Out  from  the  house  of  feasting  and  rejoicing 
into  the  house  of  death  and  mourning  he  passed. 
When  he  entered  it  he  saw  the  dead  child  lying 
upon  a  couch  made  of  two  chairs,  and  dressed 
for  its  burial.  Whiter  than  the  white  gown  he 
wore,  the  beautiful  curves  of  his  small  face  were 
as  firm  and  pure  as  if  death  intended  them  to 
last  for  ages. 

Helga  was  kneeling  beside  the  corpse,  her 
brown  seamed  face  and  brown  knotted  hands 
showing  so  plainly  beside  the  beautiful  pallor 
of  the  dead  child  what  toil  and  suffering  can 
do  to  humanity  in  three-score  years.  No  one 
could  read  the  awful,  pitiful  thoughts  which 
filled  the  minister's  heart  as  he  stood  by  the 
dead  babe.  He  did  not  speak  a  word,  but  he 
covered  his  face  with  his  hands  and  sat  down 
upon  the  hearthstone  shivering  in  soul  and 
body.  For  the  snow  had  changed  to  a  mourn 
ful  rain,  and  the  ride  over  the  dreary  moor  in 
the  early  dawn  had  been  a  chill  and  wretched 
one,  but  far  more  chill  and  wretched  was  the 
atmosphere  in  which  his  soul  now  wondered, 
cowering  before  the  spiritual  terrors  it  evoked. 


202  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

"  Where  is  Christina  ?  "  he  asked  at  length. 

"  In  her  room.     Wilt  thou  see  her  ?  " 

"  No,  I  will  not  see  her.  I  have  nothing  yet 
to  say  to  her." 

"  She  is  suffering " 

"  She  ought  to  suffer.  I  am  not  sorry  for  her 
at  this  hour.  Hast  thou  sent  word  to  Margery 
Thorsen  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  yet  seen  any  soul  here  but  the 
doctor  and  thyself." 

"  Well,  well,  I  will  send  her  word.  Stay  thou 
with  thy  daughter  and  watch  her  well.  In  such 
hours  as  this  the  devil  does  his  will." 

He  went  away,  but  his  tender  conscience  was 
torturing  him.  All  day  he  walked  up  and  down 
his  study  wondering  if  he  were  to  blame.  He 
had  denied  baptism  to  the  child,  hoping  thereby 
to  bring  the  mother  back  into  the  fold  of  the 
church  with  it.  Had  he  done  well  to  put  off 
one  duty  in  order  to  induce  another?  When  he 
had  sanctioned  the  transfer  of  the  child  to  its 
grandmother  he  knew  Paul  was  going  away, 
Oh  !  why  had  he  not  then  urged  upon  them  the 
immediate  necessity  of  the  rite?  Alas!  alas!  if 
through  his  misjudgment  or  forgetfulness  the 
child  were  lost ! 


THE  MINISTER'S   WIFE  SPEAKS.         203 

There  were  hours  in  which  the  distracted 
mother  hardly  suffered  more  than  this  good 
pastor,  hours  in  which  he  could  well  under 
stand  the  comfort  which  Popery  provided  for 
despairing  affection  in  prayers  for  the  dead,  if 
he  had  believed  in  their  efficacy,  what  suppli 
cations  he  would  have  offered  for  Christina's 
unbaptized  babe. 

His  wife  watched  him  with  a  singularly  dis 
senting  anxiety.  He  could  feel  that  into  this 
trouble  of  his  she  did  not  enter  with  her  usual 
tender  sympathy.  One  night,  after  he  had  sat 
silent  beside  her  for  a  long  time,  she  said, 
"Alexander,  what  is  this  thing  that  troubles 
thee  ?  Donald  Groat  and  others  also  have  said 
more  than  once  that  thou  art  looking  ill ;  and  I 
can  see  well  that  thou  sleeps  little  and  eats 
less." 

Then  he  told  her  the  terrible  fear  in  his 
heart,  and  he  was  astonished  to  see  her  placid 
face  remain  unruffled. 

"  No  wonder,"  she  answered,  "  that  thou  hast 
no  comfort  in  thy  prayer  about  this  matter.  It 
is  a  trial  of  thy  own  making.  If  thou  wilt  go 
on  a  warfare  to  which  thou  art  not  sent,  how 
can  thou  expect  that  God  will  help  thee  ?  He 


204  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

will  not  do  it.  And,  indeed,  I  think  thou  art 
much  to  blame  for  giving  place  to  such  hard 
thoughts  about  thy  God.  I  do  that !  " 

"  Oh  !  Barbara  Logic,  thou  knowest  little  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  I  know  this  much — that  the 
water  and  the  blood  spilled  on  Calvary  cleanses 
from  all  sin.  As  thou  sayest  well,  '  The  Insti 
tutes  '  and  '  The  Authorities ' ;  I  know  them 
not,  but  I  know  the  Gospels,  and  I  have  not  so 
learned  Christ  as  to  think  it  possible  that  one 
of  these  little  ones  can  perish,  No,  indeed  !  " 

"  I  did  not  think,  Barbara,  that  I  had  a  here 
tic  sitting  on  the  very  hearthstone  of  the 
manse." 

"  If  thou  counts  what  I  have  said  for  heresy, 
^then  make  up  thy  mind  that  every  true  mother 
is  a  heretic." 

"  Barbara !  " 

"  I  say  so.  There  is  not  one  that  believes 
God  created  her  child  for  eternal  damnation. 
No,  indeed,  there  is  not  one!  And  when  thou 
preaches  that  doctrine  in  the  pulpit,  their  hearts 
deny  it,  deny  it  all  the  time,  and  every  word 
of  it." 

"  I  thought  thy  mind  was  always  on  thy 
house,  and  on  thy  house  duties. 


THE  MINISTER'S   WIFE   SPEAKS.         205 

"  Women  think  many  things  as  they  go  up 
and  down,  and  there  is  no  license  necessary  for 
reading  the  Word  in  one's  own  house.  So,  then, 
one  day  I  saw  something  in  this  book  that  gave 
me  great  matter  for  thought,  and  maybe 
through  it  I  have  changed  my  mind  on  some 
things,"  and  she  rose  and  lifted  a  large  volume 
from  a  shelf. 

"  That  is  not  a  Bible,  my  wife.  It  is  a  Con 
cordance.  What  dost  thou  want  with  it  ?  " 

"  I  will  show  thee." 

Then  she  turned  the  leaves  with  a  kind  of 
triumph,  and  made  him  notice  how  many 
columns  were  needed  for  the  words  "  Faith  " 
and  "  Believe  "  ;  for  it  was  through  this  quaint 
inlet  the  woman  had  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  Gospel's  highest  lesson — the  abounding, 
all-sufficing  love  of  God. 

"  I  was  looking  for  a  verse  one  morning, 
Alexander,  and  I  was  astonished  that  God 
should  have  much  to  say  about  Faith.  But 
I  read  every  word,  and  when  I  had  done  so  I 
thought  better  of  God  than  ever  I  had  dared  to 
do  before  ;  and  I  know  right  well  that  hell  is 
for  the  workers  of  iniquity  and  the  blas 
phemers,  and  not  for  the  little  children  who 


206  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

have  thought  no  evil,  and  who  have  done  no 
evil " 

"  But  many  great  and  good  men,  my  Bar 
bara " 

"  I  think  little  of  them  if  they  contradict  the 
Gospels.  Thou  hast  in  thy  study  a  book  of 
hymns,  made  by  the  earliest  Fathers  of  the 
Church  ;  men  whom  I  have  heard  thee  say  may 
have  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Apostles.  Were 
they  not  greater  than  any  who  have  come  after 
them  ?  For  the  very  Spirit  of  the  Redeemer 
yet  lingered  among  them.  Very  well ;  now  I 
will  go  and  get  it,  and  thou  shalt  see  what 
they  thought  on  this  matter ;  and  I  pray  thee 
to  show  it  also  to  that  miserable  woman,  Chris 
tina  Thorsen." 

In  a  few  minutes  she  returned  with  a  book, 
and  opening  at  "  An  Ancient  Syrian  Hymn,  A.D. 
90,"  she  read  aloud,  with  her  soul  in  every  word  : 

"  '  The  Just  One  saw  that  iniquity  increased  on  earth, 
And  that  sin  had  dominion  over  all  men, 
And  he  sent  his  Messenger,  and  removed 
A  multitude  of  fair  little  ones, 
And  called  them  to  the  pavilion  of  happiness. 

Like  lilies  taken  from  the  wilderness 

Children  are  planted  in  paradise  : 

And  like  pearls  in  diadems 

Children  are  inserted  in  the  Kingdom, 

And  without  ceasing  shall  hymn  forth  His  praise.' 


THE  MINISTER'S   WIFE  SPEAKS.         2°1 

Now  then,  my  husband,  what  is  thy  opinion  of 
such  words?" 

"  I  think  they  are  very  beautiful  words  ;  and 
it  may  be,  also,  that  in  His  mercy  they  are 
likewise  true."  It  was  not  Dr.  Logic's  way  to 
give  up  a  religious  point  to  any  one,  least  of  all 
to  his  wife.  But  he  had  received  a  singular 
degree  of  comfort  from  her  confidence.  The 
clue  had  been  given  him,  and  he  followed  it 
with  a  clear  and  honest  vision. 

To  Paul's  mother  and  all  his  friends  the 
death  of  the  child  in  its  unbaptized  state  was 
a  calamity  of  an  extraordinary  kind.  Such  a 
circumstance  had  never  occurred  among  the 
Thorsens  within  the  memory  of  any  living 
member  of  the  family,  and  Margery  was  well 
aware  that  every  Thorsen  from  far  and  near 
would  demand  an  explanation  of  what  ap 
peared  to  be  an  act  of  wicked  neglect.  She 
spent  a  most  miserable  night  after  the  abduc 
tion  of  the  child,  tossed  about  from  one  fear 
to  another,  and  unable  to  rest  a  moment, 
although  she  knew  that  every  man  in  Voe  Ness 
was  doing  all  that  could  be  done  to  relieve  her 
anxiety. 

When  the  dawn  came  the  imperative  neces- 


208  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

sity  for  day's  food  and  day's  work  forced  itself 
into  her  methodical  life.  As  she  moved  about, 
the  empty  cradle,  with  its  scattered  coverlets, 
tortured  her.  She  put  it  out  of  her  sight,  with 
many  self-reproaches  for  her  faithlessness. 
Then  she  built  up  the  fire,  and  set  the 
kettle  upon  the  hearth,  and  so,  potter- 
ing  about  among  her  regular  duties,  she 
tried  to  get  over  the  miserable  hours  of  sus 
pense. 

Some  time  before  noon  she  heard  the  heavy 
tread  of  feet  coming  across  the  shingle  to  her 
door,  and  she  knew  they  were  the  feet  of  one 
bringing  tidings.  She  rose  with  difficulty,  but, 
before  she  could  take  a  step  forward,  Hacon 
Flett  entered  the  cottage  and  with  a  sad  and 
sombre  face  said,  "The  child  is  dead,"  Mar 
gery  !  " 

"Where  is  he,  then?  Hast  thou  brought 
him  here  ?  "  She  had  grown  as  gray  as  ashes 
while  she  spoke. 

"  He  is  at  Paul's  house." 

"  Then  Christina  took  him  ? ' 

"  Yes,  Christina  and  Sabay." 

"What  evil  came  to  him — what  accident?" 

"  He   died   of    croup.     This   morning,  very 


THE  MINISTER'S    U'll-E    SPEAKS.          209 

early,  he  went.  When  the  doctor  was  got, 
even  then  gone  was  all  hope." 

"  Oh,  Hacon  !  Was  no  one  else  there  ?  Speak 
to  me.  The  minister — did  no  one  send  for 
him?" 

"  He  was  at  Peter  Beg's  wedding.  The 
doctor  went  for  him.  It  was  too  late  ?  " 

" '  Too  late  !  '  Go  from  me,  Hacon  Flett.  I 
will  never  like  to  hear  thee  speak  again.  '  Too 
late  ! '  I  shall  hear  the  words  in  thy  voice  as 
long  as  I  live.  Now  then,  go,  and  leave  me 
with  myself  only." 

In  the  afternoon  she  was  determined  to  see 
the  child ;  and  she  got  two  of  the  fishers  to 
row  her  to  Paul's  jetty.  The  first  terror  of  the 
situation  had  been  succeeded  in  Margery's 
heart  by  anger — anger  all  the  more  bitter  be- 
cause  she  felt  herself  to  be  included  in  the 
condemnation.  She  had  expected  that  Chris- 
tina  would  oppose  her  entrance  ;  but  the  door 
of  the  sorrowful  house  responded  easily  to  her 
touch,  and  sick  and  weary  and  wrathful  she 
came  into  the  presence  of  the  dead  child. 
Helga  sat  with  her  head  in  her  hands  upon  the 
hearth.  Christina's  misery  was  of  that  restless, 
imperative  kind  which  demands  motion,  and 


210  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA, 

she  was  walking  up  and  down  the  floor  with  a 
face  whose  despairing  sorrow  revealed  a  mental 
agony  beyond  the  power  of  words,  and  beyond 
also  the  care  for  them. 

She  never  noticed  Margery,  and  Helga  barely 
lifted  her  head  and  let  it  drop  again.  No  one 
said  to  the  wretched  worn-out  woman  a  word, 
or  seemed  to  attach  any  meaning  to  her  visit. 

"  As  much  welcome  I  would  find  on  the  mid 
dle  of  the  moss,  I  think,"  she  said  bitterly. 

"  There  is  great  trouble  here,"  returned  Hel 
ga,  without  raising  her  head. 

"  Great  trouble  of  a  bad  woman's  own  making, 
then." 

"  The  hand  of  God  is  on  her.  Thou  may 
keep  silence." 

"  And  this  is  the  awful  thing — neither  of  you 
thought  of  the  minister." 

"  Thou  knowest  nothing ;  and  let  me  tell 
thee,  had  the  child  been  in  my  care,  I  had 
thought  of  the  minister  long  ago.  I  hold  thee 
not  guiltless  in  the  matter,  thou  art  more  to 
blame  than  Christina,  that  is  what  I  say." 

Margery  had  loosened  her  cloak,  and  hung  it 
to  dry  before  the  fire,  and  after  a  slight  hesita 
tion  she  went  towards  the  little  shrouded  form. 


THE  MINISTER'S   WIFE  SPEAKS.         211 

Ere  she  reached  it  Christina  had  placed  herself 
between.  She  did  not  speak,  but  there  was 
something  in  the  mother's  eyes  which  terrified 
Margery.  Without  a  word  she  returned  to  the 
hearth  and  sat  down  beside  Helga. 

Helga  was  well  used  to  that  patient  anguish 
in  which  solitary  sorrows  must  be  borne.  She 
could  sit  communing  with  her  own  sad  soul  or 
with  her  Maker  hour  after  hour  and  make  no 
movement  of  impatience  or  suffering.  But 
Margery  had  neither  her  temperament  nor  her 
discipline.  She  wanted  to  talk,  she  wanted  to 
defend  herself,  to  tell  Christina  her  sin,  to  do 
something,  or  find  something,  or  hear  something 
which  would  break  the  terrible  strain  and  ten 
sion  of  her  grief  and  doubt  and  fearful  appre 
hension. 

She  had  hoped  to  see  Dr.  Logic  in  the  house 
of  death  ;  she  wanted  to  know  what  he  had  said 
about  the  child. 

"  Nothing,  neither  good  nor  evil,  he  spoke. 
But,  with  his  eyes  covered,  he  sat  and  prayed." 
"  And  to  Christina  what  said  he  ?  " 
"  He  is  not  cruel.     Nothing  he  said,  yet." 
Then  Helga  relapsed  into  silence  and  Chris 
tina  returned  to  her  monotonous  walk  up  and 


212  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

down  the  room  beside  her  dead  baby.  So 
Margery  perceived  that  there  was  neither  com 
fort  to  be  obtained  nor  given  in  such  hopeless 
and  antagonistic  company. 

And  as  far  as  Christina  was  concerned  the 
situation  remained  practically  unchanged, 
though  days  and  weeks  went  by.  More  and 
more  the  pitiable  hopelessness  of  her  sorrow 
gained  ground.  She  had  begged  her  mother 
to  leave  her  alone  with  her  grief  and  despair, 
but  Helga  would  not,  at  this  time,  heed  her 
wishes.  Yet,  to  all  intents,  she  remained  alone  ; 
sometimes  weeping  with  an  abandon  that  left 
her  in  complete  physical  prostration,  but  far 
more  frequently  sitting  all  day  in  a  dull,  sullen 
despondency  that  made  Helga  sick  with  more 
than  one  new  terror. 

Yes,  there  are  silences  in  life  far  more  pathetic 
than  the  silence  of  death  ;  and  Christina,  sitting 
speechless  in  her  spiritual  terror  and  agony 
through  days  and  nights  which  hoped  nothing 
from  the  morrow,  was  a  far  more  sorrowful 
spectacle  than  grief  voicing  itself  in  loud  and 
shrill  lamentings. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM   THE   FURNACE,   FINE   GOLD. 

The  errors  of  Thy  creatures  praise  Thee,  Lord  ! 

Not  they  who  err  are  damned,  but  who,  being  wroti&. 

In  obdurate  persistency  to  err 

Refuse  all  bettering. 

Hope  lives  for  all  who  flounder  boldly  on 

Through  quaggy  bogs,  till  firmer  footing  founq 

Gives  glorious  pro?pect. 

He  brought  me  to  the  banqueting  house,  and  his  banner  over 
me  was  love. — Sol.  Song,  ii.  14. 

/CHRISTINA'S  remorse  was  indeed  great, 
\j  but  alas  !  it  was  as  yet  only  a  barren, 
suffering  sorrow.  There  was  no  repentance  in 
it ;  it  was  rather  a  mixture  of  defiance  and 
despair.  Yet  she  recognized  clearly  every  sin 
ful  step  she  had  taken.  She  was  no  longer  able 
to  deceive  herself,  and  at  length  she  decided 
accurately  enough  between  Paul  and  the  Sabays. 
In  this  respect  the  scales  had  quite  fallen  from 
her  eyes  ;  she  understood  Isabel's  motives  now, 
and  estimated  justly  how  she  had  been  deliber 
ately  sacrificed  to  her  own  selfish  ends,  and  to 
Jeppe  Sabay's  spite  at  her  husband. 

And  Christina  was  selfish  enough  to  resent 


214  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

the  whole  matter  bitterly.  There  were  hours 
in  which  she  felt  that  she  could  dare  and  brave 
anything  and  everything  for  the  joy  of  person 
ally  revenging  herself  upon  them.  It  seemed 
intolerable  to  her  that  Isabel  should  still  be 
happy  and  respected. 

One  day,  while  she  was  reproaching  herself 
with  these  thoughts,  there  was  a  knock  at  the 
door.  Very  few  people  now  called  upon  Chris 
tina,  and  she  always  left  the  room  if  there  were 
any  indication  of  a  visitor.  But  Christina  knew 
this  knock  well,  and  yet  Helga  was  astonished 
to  see  her  walk  without  hesitation  to  the  door 
and  open  it.  Isabel  Sabay  stood  there.  Isabel, 
in  a  fine  muslin  dress  and  a  long  gold  chain 
round  her  neck,  and  a  gold  watch  fastened  at 
her  ribbon-belt. 

She  had  frequently  sent  Christina  messages 
of  sympathy;  messages,  it  must  be  admitted, 
which  Helga  had  very  rarely  given  her  unhappy 
daughter ;  but  this  was  her  first  visit.  She  put 
out  her  hand  and  would  have  entered  but  for 
the  pale,  stern  woman  who  stood  defiantly  clasp 
ing  the  half-open  door. 

"  Why,  then,  Christina,  how  ill  thou  art  look 
ing  !  I  heard  that  thou  had  been  ill,  and  I  have 


FROM   THE  FUtitfACZ,  FINE  GOLD.      215 

been  very  sorry  for  thee.  Now,  I  have  some 
thing  to  tell  thee." 

"  1  will  listen  to  nothing  from  thee.  Too  often 
have  I  listened — but  no  more.  I  am  a  bad 
woman,  but  thou  art  worse  than  I  am.  Come  no 
more  to  my  house." 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  thee  ?  Hast  thou 
lost  thy  senses?"  and  she  looked  questioningly 
at  Helga,  who  stood  a  little  behind  her  daughter. 

"  I  have  come  to  my  senses,  that  is  the  matter. 
With  thee  and  at  thy  house  I  played  the  fool — 
for  thy  amusement,  too !  I  will  not  talk  with 
thee  longer.  Thou  art  to  blame  that  my  Paul 

left  me.  Thou  art  to  blame  that  my  baby 

Go!  and  come  here  no  more  at  any  time." 

"  A  wicked,  ungrateful  woman  art  thou, 
Christina  Thorsen!  Bear  thy  own  sins  and 
blame  me  not  for  them.  After  all  that  my 
Jeppe  did  for  thee,  too !  Well,  well,  thou 
art  what  every  one  calls  thee — a  very  bad 
woman  ! " 

"  I  know  that  I  am  a  bad  woman.  I  know 
too,  that  I  am  a  most  miserable  woman.  What 
folly  and  sin  have  done  to  me  thou  can  see. 
Dost  thou  believe  that  thou  can  escape  punish 
ment  ?  I  am  sure  thou  cannot." 


216  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

"  I  will  never  speak  to  thee  again.  No  decent 
woman  will  ever  speak  to  thee  again.  As  for 
Dirke  Biron— " 

"  In  my  hearing  say  not  his  name  " — and  she 
closed  the  door  ;  not  hastily  or  in  anger,  but 
with  a  weary  sadness  that  made  Helga's  heart 
ache." 

"Thou  answered  well  in  all  things,  Chris 
tina." 

"  But  I  can  never  undo  the  past,  mother. 
That  is  where  the  sorrow  begins." 

"And  I  am  glad  that  thou  gave  Isabel 
a  part  of  the  blame,  for  she  deserved  it ;  and 
perhaps  thy  words  may  trouble  her  heart 
yet." 

"  She  taught  me  to  drink.  She  made  me  a 
scorn  and  a  laughing-stock.  She  mocked  at 
my  good  Paul,  and  miserable  made  both  his 
life  and  his  home  through  my  help.  And  I  let 
her — I  let  her  do  these  things,  and  bowed  to 
her,  and  thanked  her  for  all  her  cruelty  !  Oh, 
fool,  fool,  fool  that  I  was  ! " 

"  Well,  then,  it  would  delight  her  now  to  say 
— '  Christina  Thorsen  is  drinking  herself  to 
death.'  " 

"  Oh,  but  I  will  not  give  her  this  pleasure. 


FROM    THE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       217 

See  them  keep  the  dreadful  stuff  out  of  my 
sight.  Don't  let  me  smell  it.  Don't  name  it 
in  my  presence.  I  may  die  of  grief,  but  I  will 
not  die  of  drink  to  please  her.  Indeed  I  will 
not." 

"  Let  me  send  for  the  minister ;  he  will  give 
thee  good  counsel — perhaps,  indeed,  he  may 
give  thee  some  comfort." 

"  Thou  shalt  not  speak  his  name  to  me.  He 
hath  always  brought  me  trouble.  At  the  first, 
did  he  not  prophesy  that  terrible  death  for  my 
little  murdered  bairn — murdered,  body  and 
soul " 

At  this  point  the  conversation  always  closed, 
for  Christina  either  went  away,  or  relapsed  into 
heart-breaking  sobs  and  tears. 

Thus  the  summer  and  the  winter  passed 
miserably  enough.  No  word  came  from  Paul. 
No  comfort  of  any  kind  entered  the  lonely 
rooms  where  Christina  and  her  mother  kept 
such  woful  vigils. 

During  these  months  Christina  never  left  the 
house,  and  gradually  all  her  acquaintances  for 
got  her,  until  no  one  ever  thought  of  calling 
upon  the  forsaken  woman.  Her  very  name 
was  spoken  in  that  hushed  and  furtive  way 


2l8  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

which  implies   some  terrible  crime  and  some 
terrible  retribution. 

At  length  another  spring  came,  and  with  it 
the  fair  long  nights,  lovely  in  soft,  amber  ra 
diance  and  still  serenity.  Then  all  the  men 
went  to  the  fishing,  and  the  women,  who  were 
very  busy  in  the  day,  went  early  to  sleep.  So 
one  night,  about  ten  o'clock,  Christina  felt  that 
she  could  be  quite  alone  if  she  ventured  out. 
She  put  on  her  cloak  and  hood  and  took  the 
road  to  tbe  graveyard.  She  knew  well  the 
lonely  corner  of  it  in  which  her  baby  was  Laid, 
and  her  feet  trod  the  road  of  sorrow  with  a 
grief  beyond  expression. 

Down  with  her  face  against  the  sod  and  her 
arms  across  the  little  green  mound  the  heart 
broken  mother  lay.  Such  a  little  mound  !  A 
child  might  leap  it,  and  yet  it  separated  her 
from  hope  and  happiness  as  far  as  the  starry 
spaces  above  her.  Yet,  surely,  she  found  some 
comfort  in  these  visits,  for  night  after  night  she 
travelled  the  same  sad  road. 

Perhaps  Helga  said  something  to  the  minis 
ter  on  the  subject,  for  when  Christina  slowly 
closed  the  gate  one  night  and  turned  home 
wards,  she  saw  him  standing  beside  her. 


FROM   TOE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       .219 

"  Christina,"  he  said  very  gently,  "  how  is  it 
with  thee,  my  daughter  ?  " 

"  Thou  knowest  it  is  ill  with  me." 

"  I  saw  thee  coming  here  and  I  followed 
thee." 

"  At  the  very  mid-night  wilt  thou  come  and 
say  hard  words  to  me  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed !  I  came  to  to  try  and  comfort 
thee." 

He  looked  at  her  white,  shrunken  face,  and 
sorrow-haunted  eyes,  and  a  great  pity  filled  hir. 
soul,  as  he  slowly  ejaculated  :    "  How — much— 
thou — hast — suffered  !  " 

"Well,  then,  I  ought  to  suffer.  Oh!  sir,  l>j 
there  no  hope  for  my  baby?  If  God  would  let 
me  bear  it  all,  I  am  willing.  Is  there  no  use 
praying  ?  Will  He  not  listen  now  ?  Can  I  do 
nothing  ?  Nothing  at  all  ? 

"  Christina,  weep  for  thyself  and  no  more  for 
thy  sinless  babe !  I  do  believe,  I  believe  with 
all  my  soul,  that  he  is  safe  among  those  blessed 
children  that  do  always  behold  His  face." 

She  trembled,  she  swayed  like  a  reed,  she 
gasped  a  moment  for  breath,  and  then,  leaning 
against  the  church-yard  wall,  she  began  to  cry 
softly.  It  was  one  of  those  healing  showers 


220  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

through  which  Nature  relieves  herself  from 
some  terrible  strain  or  terror.  He  waited 
patiently  till  it  was  over,  then  he  took  her  by 
the  hand  and  walked  home  with  her.  And 
never  had  a  pastor  an  hour  of  more  solemn 
beauty  and  influence  in  which  to  drop  the 
good  seed.  The  ineffable  loveliness  of  the 
Shetland  night  touched  everything.  The  purple 
and  rose  of  sunset  were  waiting  for  the  opal 
and  saffron  of  the  dawn.  The  moon  hung 
enraptured  over  a  sea  as  smooth  as  a  mirror. 
The  larks  were  twittering  in  the  grass  at  their 
feet. 

And  as  they  walked  the  good  man  comforted 
her  regarding  her  child's  eternal  safety  with 
an  assurance  that  came  from  his  own  carefully- 
considered  faith.  He  spoke  hopefully  to  her 
of  her  own  future,  and  he  so  won  the  desolate 
woman's  heart  and  reverence,  that,  with  a  grat 
itude  which  could  find  no  other  fitting  expres 
sion,  she  lifted  the  skirt  of  his  coat  and 
kissed  it. 

After  that  night  Christina  was  led  by  him  as 
he  would  have  led  a  little  child.  All  the  com 
fort  he  had  found  for  himself  he  gave  freely  to 
her,  and  in  the  gift  the  blessing  was  doubled. 


FROM    THE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       221 

And  at  last,  as  she  wandered  one  night  alone 
by  the  sea-side  praying,  there  came  to  her  that 
miraculous  change  and  consolation,  that  "  peace 
of  Christ "  passing  understanding,  which 

Is  not  quiet  and  is  not  ease, 

But  something  deeper  far  than  these — 

that  restful  life  within  the  soul,  and  beneath 
all  other  life,  which  the  world  can  neither'  give 
nor  take  away. 

In  the  afternoon  Dr.  Logic  had  said  to  her, 
"  The  Jews  transferred  their  sin  to  their  sin- 
offering.  Now  Christ  is  thy  sin-offering — lay 
all  thy  guilt  and  fears  on  Him." 

At  the  time  the  words  had  not  made  much 
impression  on  her,  but  as  she  stood  upon  the 
shingle  looking  over  the  bay  with  its  drifting 
fleet  of  fishing  vessels,  they  came  back  to  her 
with  an  irresistible  power.  She  comprehended 
Him  of  whom  also  she  was  comprehended. 
She  submitted  and  prostrated  herself,  and 
Jesus  raised  her  up.  Something  untranslatable 
passed  between  her  soul  and  His  ;  she  knew 
that  she  was  forgiven,  and  like  one  of  old  she 
went  to  her  house  justified.  And  as  she  went 
full  of  a  new  joy  she  kept  repeating  over  and 


222  PAUL  AND  CHRISTINA. 

over  a  little  verse  which  she  had  recently  read, 
and  which  lingered  in  her  memory  like  music : 

Most  sweet  Jesus,  long-suffering  Jesus, 

Heal  the  wounds  of  my  soul, 

Jesus,  and  sweeten  my  heart, 

I  pray  Thee,  most  merciful  Jesus,  my  Saviour  ! 

That  I,  saved,  may  magnify  Thee. 

After  this,  she  no  longer  hid  herself  from  the 
world,  and  no  longer  neglected  the  duties  of 
her  simple  life.  She  expected  humiliations 
and  trials,  but  Dr.  Logic  had  made  her  under 
stand  clearly  that  they  who  forsake  life's  duties 
for  fear  of  its  temptations  declare  God  to  be  a 
hard  master. 

'  Do  thy  daily  work,  Christina,  and  go  in  and 
out  about  thy  lawful  business,  and  His  grace 
will  be  sufficient  for  thee.  Thou  wilt  find  it  so, 
I  know,  and  am  sure  thou  will,"  he  said,  and 
Christina  was  not  disappointed. 

In  some  measure  the  way  had  been  prepared 
for  her,  both  by  the  friendship  of  the  minister 
and  the  anger  of  Isabel  Sabay.  Both  circum 
stances  told  in  her  favor ;  and  the  physical 
traces  of  the  anguish  she  had  endured  were  so 
evident  that  every  good  soul  pitied  her.  It 
was  indeed  as  if  they,  as  well  as  God,  said  to 


FROM   THE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       223 

her — "it  is  enough.  That  will  do."  And  she 
read  the  kindly  thought  in  every  face. 

The  first  time,  however,  that  she  went  to 
Donald  Groat's  after  her  long  seclusion  was  a 
little  trial  to  her.  She  feared  that  some  of 
Sabay's  friends  would  be  hanging  around  the 
shop  or  the  quay ;  and  she  could  not  forget  that 
Donald  had  been  very  hard  to  her  on  her  last 
visit.  But  Helga  was  ill,  and  the  money  was 
needed,  and  Christina  felt  that  the  trial  ought 
to  be  faced.  All  was  much  better  than  she 
had  expected.  Donald  spoke  gently  to  her, 
and,  after  a  glance  into  her  face,  went  to  a  door, 
and  called  his  wife. 

"  Here  is  poor  Christina  Thorsen,"  he  said  ; 
"come  thou,  and  say  a  kind  word  to  her,"  and 
the  two  women  sat  down  together,  and,  ere 
Christina  knew  it,  her  head  was  on  the  shoulder 
of  Maggie  Groat,  and  she  was  crying  a  little — 
soft,  gentle  tears,  that  made  both  hearts  pitiful 
and  gracious.  As  she  was  going  away  Donald 
said  kindly,  "  Well,  then,  Christina,  I  have 
some  good  news  for  thee.  There  has  been 
word  of  Paul  and  of  the  North  Star.  The 
ship  wintered  in  Disco,  and  she  hath  done  well, 
and  may  be  home  sooner  than  was  looked  for." 


224  PAUL  AND   CHRISTINA. 

And  the  news  made  Christina's  pale  cheeks 
burn,  and  her  heart  beat  wildly,  for  during  the 
past  few  months  she  had  thought  a  great  deal 
about  Paul,  and  about  his  gentleness  to  her, 
and  his  patience  with  her. 

Thus  day  by  day  her  character  deepened  and 
broadened;  for  day  by  day  she  was  fighting 
that  selfishness  which  had  been  the  sin  making 
all  other  sins  possible  to  her.  She  had  many  a 
hard  fight  with  it,  and  even  her  conquests  were 
often  dimmed  by  a  sulky  after-mood  ;  but  the 
most  persistent  foe  has  to  give  way  at  last  to  a 
persistent  antagonism. 

Before  the  next  May  occasion,  much  had 
been  done  by  Christina  Thorsen.  She  had  vol 
untarily  gone  to  see  Margery ;  she  had  gone 
again  and  again,  until  the  justly-offended  wo 
man  had  forgiven  and  put  out  of  her  memory 
her  wrongs.  And  she  had  said  some  words  to 
her  own  mother  which  had  brought  happy 
smiles  to  Helga's  careworn  face.  And  in  other 
directions  she  had  obtained,  not  all  at  once, 
but  surely  a  measure  of  respect  which  she  had 
never  enjoyed  before  ;  for  Mrs.  Logic  invited 
her  to  the  manse,  and  that  invitation  opened 
every  other  door  to  her. 


FROM   THE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       225 

On  the  Sabbath  before  the  communion 
Christina  had  certainly  a  great  trial,  but  she 
went  bravely  and  solemnly  through  it.  For, 
after  reading  aloud  the  names  of  new  commu 
nicants,  the  minister  said,  "  Christina  Thorsen 
also,  after  an  honest  repentance  and  acknowl 
edgment  of  her  sins  before  God  and  man,  de 
sires,  on  public  profession  of  her  faith,  to  be 
received  into  the  household  of  the  Church, 
and  the  visible  communion  of  its  members." 

She  was  pale  as  death  as  she  stood  up  in  the 
midst  of  the  congregation,  but  Dr.  Logic's 
voice  had  in  it  a  singular  sympathy  and  gentle 
ness,  and  it  seemed  as  if  every  one  caught  its 
spirit.  Many  a  pleasant  word  and  smile,  and 
many  a  hearty  hand-clasp  after  the  service, 
assured  her  that  her  return  to  her  Father's 
house  and  table  was  hailed  with  holy  joy  by  all 
His  children. 

Soon  after  this  event  there  came  news  again 
of  Paul's  ship.  It  was  expected  before  the 
winter  closed  in,  and  Donald  Groat  said  there 
was  neither  word  nor  rumour  of  any  death,  or 
sickness  or  accident  on  board  of  her.  Then 
Christina  put  her  house  in  perfect  order,  and 
began  to  spin  fine  wool  and  to  knit  hosiery  and 


226  PAUL   AND  CHRISTINA. 

make  Paul  some  new  clothing,  for  she  knew 
well  that  he  would  come  home  needing  all 
things.  So  early  and  late  she  was  at  her  wheel 
and  her  hands  were  busy  and  her  heart  happy 
and  hopeful. 

One  day,  as  the  winter  was  setting  in  with  a 
fall  of  snow,  Donald  Groat  sent  her  this  word  : 
— "  The  North  Star  is  in  the  Sound,  and  Paul 
Thorsen  is  on  her.  See  thou  give  him  a  good 
welcome,  and  may  God  bless  it ! "  Then  Chris 
tina  threw  her  cloak  on  and  ran  to  the  manse. 
Her  face  was  pale  but  full  of  eagerness  and 
hope,  and  when  Dr.  Logic  said,  "  What  is  it, 
then,  Christina?"  she  answered,  with  hardly- 
restrained  excitement,  "  It  is  the  North  Star. 
She  is  in  the  Sound,  and  will  be  to  quay  some 
time  to-day.  Oh,  sir !  Thou  go  and  meet  Paul, 
and  tell  him  everything  for  me.  Tell  him  how 
sorry  I  am  for  all  the  past.  Tell  him  that  till 
the  end  of  life  I  will  now  be  a  good  wife  to 
him." 

And  the  minister  smiled  happily,  and,  as  he 
put  on  his  coat  and  fur  hat,  encouraged  the 
trembling  woman  with  many  hopeful  words. 
Yet,  oh  !  how  long  was  the  short  Shetland  day ! 
How  full  of  vague  doubts  and  fears !  How 


FROM    THE  FURNACE,  FINE   GOLD.       227 

anxious  with  all  love's  sweet  anxieties  and 
cares.  It  was  almost  dark  when  the  vessel  was 
safely  anchored  and  the  cargo  turned  over  to 
Donald  Groat's  guardianship. 

But  at  last  she  heard  the  quick,  heavy  tread 
of  her  husband  !  At  last !  At  last !  He  came 
rapidly  across  the  shingle,  he  flung  wide  open 
the  door,  and  called  out  joyfully,  "  Christina  / 
Christina  !  " 

She  was  standing  waiting — smiling  and  weep 
ing,  and  half-afraid — but  at  the  words  she  flew 
to  the  arms  opened  to  receive  her,  and,  clasped 
to  Paul's  heart,  sobbed  out,  amid  his  tears  and 
kisses  of  joy,  her  repentance  and  her  love. 

THE  END. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


41584 


fiifi 


